Non-face-to-face Gift Giving Increased More During the Long Chuseok Holiday

Increased Demand for Overseas Travel During 6-Day Holiday
Expressing Feelings in Advance with Contactless Gifts

Jung (33), an office worker living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, is preparing for a trip to Vietnam during the Chuseok holiday. Although the plane tickets were 8 to 9 times more expensive than usual, he decided to travel abroad thinking he could enjoy a six-day holiday without using personal leave. He said, "I sent a red ginseng set to my parents last week," and added, "I will visit my parents comfortably using the upcoming weekend."

Although this is the first Chuseok holiday since the COVID-19 endemic phase, the demand for non-face-to-face delivery of Chuseok gifts has increased. It was initially expected that many travelers would visit their hometowns carrying gifts, but many chose to travel domestically or abroad during the long holiday or maintain a non-face-to-face Chuseok approach. According to Korea Airports Corporation, the number of international passengers during the Chuseok period is estimated to increase by nearly double (92%) compared to before COVID-19.

According to Lotte On on the 26th, from the start of the Chuseok non-face-to-face gift service on the 4th to the 24th, sales of Korean beef gift sets more than doubled compared to the same period during last year’s Chuseok event. Beauty gift sets such as cosmetics increased by 30% during the same period. The gift service allows sending gifts via KakaoTalk messages or text messages by only knowing the recipient’s phone number.

Kwon Hyuk-min, the person in charge of the gift service at Lotte On, explained, “As customers plan trips instead of visiting their hometowns during the six-day long holiday, the demand for sending gifts in advance seems to have increased. Also, due to the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, the gift price limit for agricultural and marine products was raised from 200,000 won to 300,000 won, which simultaneously increased both the number of buyers and the average spending on Korean beef gift sets.”

SSG.com also announced that sales of gift sets at Shinsegae Department Store Mall increased by 70% compared to the same period last year (three days before the Chuseok holiday, August 23 to September 5) from the 11th to the 24th. By category, premium Korean beef sets, premium fruit sets such as apple mangoes, apples, and pears, and health food products like red ginseng sets were popular. Gmarket saw a significant increase in Chuseok gift set sales across all categories. From the 11th to the 24th, sales of nut gift sets increased by more than 14% compared to the same period last year, while fruit gift sets (13%), cosmetic gift sets (13%), and canned tuna gift sets (13%) also showed double-digit growth rates. At Hyundai Department Store, the number of delivery orders for Chuseok gift sets from the 18th of last month, when orders began, to the 24th increased by about 11% compared to last year’s Chuseok period.

There is also an analysis that online gift sending has become a trend, increasing the number of users opting for non-face-to-face gift delivery. During COVID-19, the trend of sending gifts non-face-to-face became common, and even those visiting their hometowns prefer to send gifts in advance to their parents’ addresses to lighten their load when visiting home.

Meanwhile, considering the increased demand for Chuseok gift deliveries, the distribution industry is providing gift delivery services even during the Chuseok holiday. Hyundai Department Store offers same-day evening delivery for orders placed by 5 p.m. within a 5 km radius of five stores nationwide, including Apgujeong Main Store, Sinchon Store, Mia Store, D-Cube City, and Busan Store, until the day before Chuseok, the 28th. SSG.com also plans to complete delivery by the evening of the same day for gift sets ordered by the 28th. Gmarket provides same-day delivery service for gift sets until the 29th, one day longer.

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