'The Era of Finger Grocery Shopping'... Buying Groceries Without Looking

Online Food and Beverage Transactions Reach 24 Trillion
85% Surge Over 2 Years of COVID-19
Big Mart Food Sales Show Negative Growth
Hard to Return to Pre-COVID Consumption Patterns
Offline Focuses on Fun and Experience for Revamp

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] As the third year of COVID-19 arrives, the shift to 'finger shopping' for food and beverage products for dining tables has accelerated.

According to the Statistics Korea's 'Online Shopping Trend Survey' on the 31st, the estimated online shopping transaction amount for food and beverage products last year was 24.857 trillion KRW. This is an 84.9% surge in just two years compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak (2019). The online shopping transaction amount for food and beverage products grew from 7.997 trillion KRW in 2017 to 10.494 trillion KRW in 2018, and then to 13.447 trillion KRW in 2019. Due to the impact of COVID-19, it rapidly increased by 46.3% to 19.679 trillion KRW in 2020 compared to the previous year, and last year it approached 25 trillion KRW, growing again by 26.3%. When adding the agricultural, livestock, and fishery product categories to food and beverage products last year, the transaction amount reached 32.799 trillion KRW, a 91.0% increase over two years compared to 2019.

As the COVID-19 situation prolonged, even fresh foods, which people previously insisted on seeing in person before buying, have rapidly shifted to online shopping. Market Kurly and Oasis Market, which promote online grocery shopping, also experienced rapid growth during this period. Kurly's sales jumped more than threefold from 452.9 billion KRW in 2019, just before COVID-19, to 1.5614 trillion KRW last year. The transaction amount exceeded 2 trillion KRW. Oasis also recorded its highest-ever sales, growing 150.7% in two years from 142.4 billion KRW in 2019 to 357 billion KRW last year.

On the other hand, large supermarkets showed a decline during the same period. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's major retail sales trends, large supermarkets' sales last year decreased by 2.3% compared to the previous year. Sales also dropped by 5.1% in 2019 compared to the previous year and by 3.0% in 2020. Although supermarkets promote product categories including fresh foods, the annual growth rate of the food category in large supermarkets from 2019 to 2021 showed negative growth compared to the previous year, except for 2020, the first year of COVID-19 (1.6%). Department stores saw a 9.9% decrease in sales in 2020, the first year of COVID-19, compared to the previous year, but last year experienced double-digit growth (24.1%) due to 'revenge consumption.' However, the sales growth in department stores last year was driven by non-food items such as luxury goods (37.9%). The food category growth rate (13.2%) lagged behind the average.

As the shift to online grocery shopping accelerated under the influence of COVID-19, offline retailers have focused on 'structural improvements.' Both department stores and large supermarkets have boldly moved away from displaying low-priced processed goods in the food section and have transformed into 'must-visit places' by attracting famous restaurants nationwide and selling food products linked to these restaurants. Galleria Department Store's luxury food hall, Gourmet 494, recently renewed with this concept, increasing early sales by more than 26% compared to the previous year. Large supermarkets are also creating appeal points that online shopping cannot provide, such as gathering popular meal kits in one place for easy comparison, attracting consumers.

Experts believe that even in the 'post-COVID' era, the consumption patterns changed by COVID-19 are likely to settle, and channel-specific responses considering this are necessary. Yeonah Hong, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, said, "It will be difficult for consumption patterns to revert after the end of COVID-19. Structural changes through online channels are expected to accelerate, so monitoring and responding to these changes are necessary." Professor Yonggu Seo of the Department of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women's University emphasized, "Offline shopping is convenient for consumers, but to relieve the fatigue of online grocery shopping, which feels like a chore, content that adds fun and experience should be continuously added."

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