By Park Ji-won
A group of online stores have decided to designate their own version of the United States' Black Friday on Dec. 12.
Just like the original version, they are offering big discounts on all kinds of products.
Their marketing strategy is luring customers who are not used to direct buying from overseas, said officials at 11ST, SK Planet's online shopping unit.
During this year's Black Friday, which fell on Nov. 28, a lot of Koreans bought massive amounts of goods directly from the U.S.
The nine retailers say some products will be available for purchase with discounts of up to 50 percent.
They stores are 11ST ― which initiated the event ― Lotte.com, elLotte, AK Mall, HyundaiHmall, CJ Mall, Galleria Mall, Himart and Lotte super.
Last year, 11st held a "Korean Black Friday" event and experienced unexpected success with 3 million visitors to its website and triple the sales of imported goods on that single day.
Market insiders said the move is part of an effort by the online retailers to find a breakthrough amid the increasing presence of overseas online shops following the popularity of direct buying in Korea.
"Korean online retailers are trying to establish competitiveness amid the rising popularity of overseas online retailers, which could be a large threat to them," said an official from one of the nine companies.
Gmarket and auction.co.kr, run by eBay Korea said they will not participate in the event.
By October this year, products worth 1.35 trillion won were brought to Korea through direct buying overseas. This is expected to top 2 trillion won by the end of the year.
A group of online stores have decided to designate their own version of the United States' Black Friday on Dec. 12.
Just like the original version, they are offering big discounts on all kinds of products.
Their marketing strategy is luring customers who are not used to direct buying from overseas, said officials at 11ST, SK Planet's online shopping unit.
During this year's Black Friday, which fell on Nov. 28, a lot of Koreans bought massive amounts of goods directly from the U.S.
The nine retailers say some products will be available for purchase with discounts of up to 50 percent.
They stores are 11ST ― which initiated the event ― Lotte.com, elLotte, AK Mall, HyundaiHmall, CJ Mall, Galleria Mall, Himart and Lotte super.
Last year, 11st held a "Korean Black Friday" event and experienced unexpected success with 3 million visitors to its website and triple the sales of imported goods on that single day.
Market insiders said the move is part of an effort by the online retailers to find a breakthrough amid the increasing presence of overseas online shops following the popularity of direct buying in Korea.
"Korean online retailers are trying to establish competitiveness amid the rising popularity of overseas online retailers, which could be a large threat to them," said an official from one of the nine companies.
Gmarket and auction.co.kr, run by eBay Korea said they will not participate in the event.
By October this year, products worth 1.35 trillion won were brought to Korea through direct buying overseas. This is expected to top 2 trillion won by the end of the year.
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