Chuseok Holiday 'Value Day'... Smart Shopping to Support Small Business Owners

Cost Reduction and Discount Coupons, etc.

Jonghwan Jo, President of the Small Enterprise and Market Service (right), is visiting a traditional market and inspecting stores with officials.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] During the Chuseok holiday, when preparing food with family or giving gifts, comparing prices or using discount platforms can provide the joy of 'smart shopping.' In particular, purchasing products from small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggling due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can also help support them.

According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service, buying Chuseok food and supplies at traditional markets can reduce costs. From September 7 to 10, Sojin-gong conducted a price comparison of 27 popular Chuseok items at 37 traditional markets nationwide and 37 nearby large supermarkets. The results showed that traditional markets were cheaper than large supermarkets for 21 items.

By category, the price advantage of traditional markets over large supermarkets was in the order of ▲vegetables (43.3%) ▲meat (25.7%) ▲seafood (25.1%) ▲fruits (3.2%). Particularly, items where traditional markets showed a price advantage included ▲gosari (bracken fern) (64.5%, 7,707 KRW) ▲peeled doraji (balloon flower root) (64.1%, 7,780 KRW) ▲beef soup meat (34.6%, 15,813 KRW) ▲dried pollack (33.7%, 5,267 KRW) ▲jujube (31.5%, 2,453 KRW), among others.

Smart shopping is also possible through the 'Value Day' live commerce regularly operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The ministry sells products from small business owners and SMEs every Monday and Wednesday through the 'Let's Buy Value Platform' and 'Private Live Commerce Collaboration Platform.' Real-time broadcasts and product purchases are available through collaboration platforms such as TMON, Lotte Department Store Mall 100LIVE, WEMAKEPRICE, Kakao Commerce, 11st, and Naver.

The Value Day live commerce was established to support online sales channels for small business owners amid the accelerating digital economy due to COVID-19. Each live commerce session runs for about one hour, selling products selected by private experts from small business owners and SMEs, and offers various benefits such as discount coupons and gifts during the broadcast to encourage consumer participation.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "In future planned live commerce sessions, we plan to actively discover and support the sale of not only popular products from small business owners and SMEs but also competitive products from lesser-known local stores."

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