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Staff Reporter
A 30-year-old male office worker, who has asked to be identified only by his family name Kim, recently made a purchase he would never have considered just a couple of years ago from an online shopping mall ― an electric epilator.
"I wouldn't have minded going outside in shorts with hair on my legs then, but not these days," Kim said. "I still don't completely like the idea of removing hair, but it's obvious my girlfriend doesn't like to see me with hairy legs."
To his relief, he doesn't appear to be the only male to purchase such equipment this summer.
Sales of body hair-removing products have risen sharply with the arrival of summer, retailers say.
Since April, men have accounted for over 10 percent of buyers of an electric epilator released by GS Home Shopping, an online shopping mall. The number grew about 30 percent year-on-year, and 50 percent from 2007, the company said Thursday.
Younger men are especially interested in such grooming devices, as those between the ages of 25 to 35 make up 80 percent of all male consumers, it added.
In spite of the economic slowdown, interest continues to grow among Korean men for body grooming products, as the "pretty-boy" look emerges as a prevailing trend, industry watchers say.
"Soaring sales of such devices in online malls show that men are still `shy' about going to shop in person," said Kim Ho-kyu, a merchandiser at GS Home Shopping.
GS is planning to launch more epilator promotions late at night or on weekends, in an attempt to woo more potential male consumers.
It is not limited to GS. Sales of epilating products for the 10-day period starting from May 23, more than doubled those in the previous 10 days, said D&Shop, another Internet marketplace.
Over 17,000 units of creams, wax strips and other depilatory items were sold last month on Gmarket, the nation's largest online mall. The sale represents an increase of 180 percent from the previous month. Auction is currently selling some 1,000 hair-removal products per day, with sales of waxes rising 30 percent in May from last year.
hckim@koreatimes.co.kr
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