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The number of Korean Internet users in their 60s or above is rising. The demographic, which originally viewed the Internet as hostile territory, is fast becoming a regular source of income for online shopping mall since it has greater financial freedom than younger people. The outlets have cottoned on and are thinking of new ways to attract older consumers.
The online arm of Lotte Department Stores, Lotte.com, has no fewer than 500,000 registered shoppers over 60 years of age.
Of these, 8,336 vigorously shop on the site. And it is not daily necessities they typically buy - it is cosmetics. A survey shows that cosmetics accounted for 25 percent of their purchases, with anti-aging products like moisturizing creams and eye creams in the lead, followed by lipstick and foundation.
In close second place accounting for 24 percent of purchases are snacks including sweets and fruit. Next on the list are bodyshaping underwear (19 percent) and household products like toilet paper, mineral water and rice (13 percent). When sales of cosmetics and body-correcting underwear are combined, the looks-enhancing category accounts for 44 percent, showing that Korea¡¯s older generation are nearly as obsessed with their looks as their younger counterparts.
The most popular products were slightly different if the demographic was further subdivided. Shoppers in their 60s still favored cosmetics (33.5 percent) and underwear (30.2 percent), while customers in their 70s were happier with sweets (17.2 percent) and other snack foods (15.8 percent). Rice (15.2 percent) and spring water (14 percent), heavy products that are difficult for the elderly to carry home, were also popular with the age group.
The average amount elderly web users spend on a visit to Lotte.com is W125,013 (US$125) -- significantly more than the W93,200 overall average. That explains why dotcoms are wooing the age bracket.
"As the number of Internet users in their silver years rises, the ratio of consumers switching from offline purchases to online sales is growing," Lotte.com marketing chief Gwak Dong-ho says. He admits silver Netizens are ¡°customers that online shopping malls can't afford to miss."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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