Gyeongbuk Province Agricultural Specialty Products Shopping Mall 'Saiso' Surpasses 8.4 Billion KRW in Sales... Exceeds Last Year's Sales

Acceleration of Online Platform Agricultural Food Purchases Triggered by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the sales of 'Saiseo,' an online shopping mall for agricultural specialty products directly operated by Gyeongbuk Province, have been remarkable.

According to Gyeongbuk Province on the 24th, the sales of the online shopping mall 'Saiseo' as of the end of July this year reached 8.44 billion KRW, already surpassing last year's total sales of 8.43 billion KRW. Compared to the first year sales of 190 million KRW when it officially opened in April 2007, this is an increase of 44 times.

As of the end of July, there are 915 registered vendors and 19,320 members. This represents a 59% increase in vendors (an increase of 339) and a remarkable 175% increase in members (an increase of 12,282) compared to the end of last year.

This achievement is largely attributed to increased consumer accessibility through the launch of the mobile app 'Gohyangjangteo Saiseo' in December last year amid the COVID-19 non-face-to-face untact culture. Additionally, the opening of special sections such as the traditional liquor pavilion, expansion of affiliated malls through business agreements with Naver, Kakao, SSG.com, and aggressive online marketing to secure loyal customers also appear to have been effective.

Gyeongbuk Province has been leading support for local farms through various online sales events, such as a special package sale event to help eco-friendly agricultural producers who suffered damage due to the suspension of school meals caused by COVID-19 in early March, the establishment of a dedicated pavilion for farms affected by COVID-19, and the creation of a cyber agricultural festival pavilion to expand non-face-to-face agricultural product sales on the 'Saiseo' mall.

Kim Jong-su, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock, and Distribution Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "With changes in consumption patterns after COVID-19, online distribution is rapidly emerging as a core industry of the untact economy," and added, "We will actively support farmers who need help selling agricultural products through the 'Saiseo' mall."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.