E-commerce Imports Now Key Route into South Korean Market

In 2025, retail sales in the country surged 6.8%, with online channels rocketing by 11.8% (subsequently accounting for nearly half of all consumption), signalling a hyper‑digital shift that has been propelled by advanced logistics and a number of key demographic trends, including the rise of smaller households. The vitality of the ‘South Korean’ brand has been reflected in impressive export levels (totalling more than US$700 billion in 2025), visitor numbers in excess of 18 million, and a high level of domestic consumer confidence.

These developments were highlighted during a recent HKTDC online workshop on South Korean market entry. In addition to key insights into performance metrics and practical sales strategies from Edmund Lo, an Economist with HKTDC Research’s Asian and Emerging Markets Research Team, the session also explored market drivers, channel options, and consumer trends.

Market overview

After growing by about 5.5% annually over recent years, South Korea’s consumer market is estimated to have expanded by 6.8% in 2025, with per annum expansion of 5% anticipated over the medium term.

Highlighting the factors behind this buoyancy, Lo said: “Above all, it should be remembered that South Korea’s economic situation is actually quite resilient. In addition, last year, South Korea was bolstered by the AI boom, which saw a surge in its semiconductor exports. Last year, South Korea’s exports exceeded $700 billion for the first time, with semiconductor exports up by 22% year‑on‑year, and car exports also enjoying significant growth.”

Overall, South Korea’s GDP has grown by some 2.3% over the past few years, while inflation has remained largely in check at about 2.1%. As a consequence, consumer confidence has also rebounded, particularly over the last year.

Digging deeper into this, Lo told seminar participants: “Since last May, consumer confidence has rebounded to above 100, indicating a high level of optimism. It is also notable that South Koreans are getting richer. A big factor in this is the booming stock market – if we look back at last year, the returns on the markets that many South Koreans favour have been very good.”

Another positive indicator for the country is its vibrant tourism market, which has seen visitor numbers increase from 11 million in 2023 to more than 18 million in 2025. For 2026, meanwhile, in the first three months of the year, visitor numbers were up 23% compared to 2025. Tourist consumption has also increased, with 30‑40% of visitor spending said to be retail‑focused.

E-commerce now dominant

Looking more closely at the 2025 growth in South Korea’s consumer market, offline sales increased by just 0.4%, while online sales were up by a massive 11.8%. As a sign of the fundamental change in the market, almost half of South Korean consumption now comes from online sales compared to just 30% in 2019. The online share of the market is expected to grow by about 7% per annum in the coming years.

Drilling into what is causing this shift, Lo said: “The key elements here are demographic changes and the rapid development of the local logistics sector. In the case of the former, the number of people living alone has increased significantly, with the latest figures showing that 36% of Korean households are now home to just one person, which means day‑to‑day tasks, such as shopping, are no longer shared. As a result, people want a more convenient purchase channel, with e‑commerce the obvious option.

“In addition to this, Korea’s logistics industry has been very supportive of e‑commerce. By using the Rocket Delivery option, for instance, orders placed at 11 pm one day will be delivered the following day.”

In terms of major e‑commerce categories, food, clothing, shoes and accessories, electrical appliances, cosmetics, health supplements, and furniture are all enormously popular among South Korean consumers. To meet this demand, a number of substantial domestic e‑commerce players have emerged, including Coupang and Naver, which, together, account for about half of the country’s e‑commerce retail activity.

Korean consumers embracing Chinese Mainland products

Highlighting the particular characteristics of the South Korean e‑commerce market, Lo singled out one particular phenomenon – “polarised demand”. Expanding on what this actually entails, he said: “In South Korea, people tend to buy either very expensive items or very cheap ones. The upshot of this is that it’s often many of the mid‑range items that tend to be neglected.”

Identifying another peculiarity, he said that the growing prevalence of one / two‑person, restricted space households had led to consumers buying fewer items at once, while tending to opt for smaller home appliances and more modular furniture items.

Another significant aspect of local consumer behaviour is the willingness to buy Chinese Mainland‑sourced items at both ends of the cost spectrum. Highlighting this, Lo said: “In the case of high‑quality products, items from the Chinese Mainland can be manufactured and delivered far more quickly than they could be from, say, Europe. This partly explains why half of the overseas e‑commerce orders placed in South Korea are for Mainland‑made items.”

Adding a word of warning, though, Lo noted that product cycles in South Korea can be brutally short, with consumer interest often briefly spiking before equally swiftly dropping away.

Citing a clear example of this phenomenon, he said: “There was a Japan‑sourced dessert that was, fleetingly, massively popular in South Korea. Three months after its launch, though, demand was just a sixth of what it was at its peak.

“The lesson here for exporters to Korea is – even if your product proves an immediate hit, be ready for demand to trail off rapidly. All too often, the only products that truly endure in South Korea are local ones.”

Additional information about the Korean consumer market is available below:

• Trendsetting Korean Consumer Market
• South Korea’s E-commerce Landscape
• Korean Consumer Trends: Business Implications

All views expressed in the Market News section reflect those of the individual correspondent and any interviewees. They are neither endorsed nor verified by the HKTDC.