What has Influenced the Korean Online Shopping Boom?

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The K-wave (or Hallyu) is the process of K-dramas, K-music, K-beauty, K-fashion, and manhwa popularizing South Korean culture over the globe. But aside from K-artists and models, what (or who) else influences the popularity of the Republic of Korea, its culture, and products worldwide?

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Korea's Top Influencers

Many popular bloggers (both Koreans and foreigners) talk about Korea and its culture or post their performances on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms. Millions of people around the globe follow their life and work, falling in love with the country and its people. Below are just a few of the most popular bloggers on YouTube.

JFlaMusic

Category: Music
Size: 17.5 million subscribers

With 3,603,376,353 views, J.Fla is one of the most popular singers/songwriters on YouTube. Here are only a few of her most viral videos: “TONES AND I – Dance Monkey” (~55 million views), “Eminem – Lose Yourself” (~31 million views), and “BTS – Dynamite” (~6.85 million views).

PONY Syndrome

Category: Cosmetics & beauty products
Size: 5.94 million subscribers

Pony is one of the best ambassadors of Korean beauty products and skincare cosmetics. Her channel has many playlists with dozens of comments in English and other foreign languages. For example, PONY The Globetrotter, Transformation, Makeup tutorials, and many others.

Awesome Haeun

Category: K-pop, dancing
Size: 5.22 million subscribers

Na Haeun is a kids model from South Korea who enjoys dancing and collaborations even with popular K-Pop idols. On this channel, both Koreans and foreigners enjoy her dance videos, her daily life, etc. Na Haeun is so popular that she even has a Japan Fanpage.

Korean Englishman

Category: Korean food
Size: 4.82 million subscribers

The channel, Korean Englishman, is managed by two friends, Josh and Ollie. They make videos in Korean and English showing the two cultures and especially Korean food to foreigners. There are even videos with Hollywood celebrities trying Korean food, like a video with the Avengers’ cast and Korean celebrities introducing it.

Asian Boss

Category: Social issues
Size: 3.41 million subscribers

Located in South Korea, Seoul, the Asian Boss team aims to bridge social and cultural gaps by bringing to their audience’s attention “the most authentic news from all over Asia through real people’s voices and stories”. The most recent videos related to Korea are “What Koreans Think of FreeZia Controversy and Fake Luxury Goods” and “What Young Koreans Think of Presidential Election 2022“.

Bestselling Korean Merchandise

Unique and high-quality Korean products also fuel the growing interest of foreigners in Korea and its culture.

South Korea has an export-led economy. In 2021, South Korea’s exports reached the highest-ever level of $644.5 billion. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, K-wave led to relatively newer items like cosmetics (21.5%) and agricultural products (13.2%) being among those posting promising growth, reaching their first-ever $10 billion and $9 billion in exports respectively.

The most desired best-selling products are listed by categories below:

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Korea's Top International Shipping Companies

Korea Post

우체국택배 (in Korean)

Each country has its national postal system. Korean one is Korea Post (or 우체국 [uchegug]). It provides a range of services from economy (K-packet and regular shipping by sea and air) to express (EMS and EMS Premium). Speed of delivery and costs vary depending on the selected shipping service and destination. You may use this calculator to estimate shipping costs.

CJ Logistics

CJ 대한통운 (in Korean)

CJ Logistics is one of the most popular delivery service brands in Korea, especially when it comes to shipping domestically. It specializes in contract logistics, parcel delivery, forwarding, and many other services. Aside from its website, CJ also has a mobile phone application which makes using its services even more convenient.

Lotte Global Logistics

롯데택배 (in Korean)

Along with CJ, Lotte is one of the most recognizable brands in Korea. It belongs to the Lotte Group, Korea’s largest food business group. Lotte Logistics provides multiple services: parcel service, transport service, international logistics service, port service, easy-drop service, and warehouse service. You can arrange a pickup either using the Lotte app or the website.

Delivered Korea

딜리버드 코리아 (in Korean)

Delivered Korea ships worldwide using multiple carriers – express and economy. Economy carriers include Aramex, K-post K-packet, and Delivered Standard, while express includes EMS, EMS Premium, FedEx Priority, and UPS. You may check the available carriers and timeframes and compare them using this calculator.

Logen

로젠택배 (in Korean)

Logen is “the gentleman of the logistics system” with “lo” meaning logistics and “gen” coming from “gentleman”. Logen is less popular than some other brands, but you can often see them when ordering electronic products from Yongsan Electronics Market. Similarly to other Korean carriers, Logen allows its clients to register parcels with both the Logen app and website.

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To Korean Marketplaces (online shopping sites)

Korean marketplaces are continuously getting more user-friendly and easy to navigate for foreigners. The most popular marketplace include but are not limited to, Coupang, G-market, and 11st. You may want to check the “Where to Buy Legit Korean Products from the Best Online Marketplace in South Korea” article for more detailed information if you are interested in this topic.