More countries are making online purchases from Korea

75 countries purchased Korean products online in the last two years, Cafe24 data shows
Europe is the most-purchasing continent with 46% while Japan is the most-purchasing country

More global consumers from more diverse countries around the world are purchasing K-style (Korean-style) products directly from Korean online DTC stores.

Global e-commerce platform Cafe24 announced that K-style product purchases occurred in 75 different countries in the last two years, which is an increase of 44%. Results were drawn from the shipping data of Korean DTCs selling internationally using Cafe24’s global logistics services.

Cafe24 first launched its global logistics service in 2015. In that year, K-style product purchases occurred in 52 different countries. Since then, the number of countries has continued to spread with an average increase of 20% each year, accumulating to 67 countries in 2016 and 75 countries in 2017.

The continent making the most K-style product cross-border purchases is Europe with 35 countries (46.6%), followed by Asia with 17 countries (22.6%), Middle East with 9 countries (12%), South America with 4 countries (5.3%), North America with 2 countries (2.6%), Oceania with 2 countries (2.6%), and Africa with 2 countries (2.6%). Other notable nations include Guam, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Aruba.

Japan ranked first place in the top ten countries that made the most K-style product cross-border purchases in the last three years, followed by China, the United States, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and New Zealand. Countries in North America, Oceania, and Europe were equally distributed throughout the top 10 ranks. Such findings are significant considering that these countries do not have a history of preference for K-style products.

The range of countries making cross-border purchases from Korean DTCs is expected to expand even further. The analysis was made on inflowing customer traffic data from a candidate group of DTCs that proceeded active global marketing. Results suggest that potential customers visited from an average of 135 countries in 2015, 169 in 2016, and 190 in 2017, showing an annual average increase of 19% respectively.

Increasing recognition and demand for K-fashion, K-beauty, and K-style products can be interpreted to be growing alongside the influence of Hallyu (Korean Wave) spreading throughout the globe. Moreover, the vitalization of cross-border e-commerce markets and networks, advancements in logistics infrastructure, increase of Korean DTCs expanding into international markets, and diversification of markets can also explain the rapid expansion of consumer base throughout different countries.

Jaesuk Lee, CEO of Cafe24, said, “More and more consumers from different countries are making online cross-border purchases of K-style products directly from Korean DTCs.” He added, “Cafe24 will continue to mature with the growing cross-border e-commerce market and continue to develop a global e-commerce environment where DTC merchants can more easily sell their products to global markets and global consumers can make more convenient cross-border purchases.”

About Cafe24

Cafe24 is a global success platform that provides a one-stop business environment for e-commerce merchants so that they can achieve continued growth by focusing on their creativity.
Cafe24 has established an e-commerce ecosystem with 1.7 million Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) merchants and various global partners in areas like payment, shipping, and marketing. Cafe24 is poised for growth as more DTC brands and e-commerce participants continue to join the burgeoning industry.