‘Digital misers‘ emerge amid downturn

By Kim Tae-gyu

Jang Ki-young, a 27-year-old male in Seoul, has spent a very trying year because he was not able to find a decent job after graduating from a university in early 2011 amid the lingering economic downturn.

It pains him most to stay home all day long to face his mother, a chatterbox, so he tends to leave home early in the morning after having a quick breakfast. But he struggles to discover ways to kill time with minimal costs.

Recently, Jang finally found one ― he snapped up a cheap second-handed tablet PC and spend his daytime in free Wi-Fi zones, which are practically ubiquitous across the capital.

``I channeled a substantial proportion of my nest egg to purchase a used tablet at 150,000 won ($132) with which I can idle away the day at coffee shops or fast-food restaurants without having to spend money,’’ Jang said.

``The only problem is lunch. Sometimes I skip it to have an early dinner at home or have instant noodles. Otherwise I keep an eye on the social-commerce sites, which offer bargain meals for as little as 1,000 won.’’

Wi-Fi services are offered free of charge at an increasing number of places including most popular chains like Starbucks and McDonald’s and the upward trend is expected to continue.

``My laptop broke midway through last year and I couldn’t ask my parents for a new one. Even if I had one, I wouldn’t bring it to Starbucks because it is too bulky to carry and looks old-fashioned,’’ Jang said.

``The tablet is a perfect fit for such areas. Plus, social-commerce sites are attractive to me despite some complaints regarding them because of their products with very affordable price tags. I am very sensitive to prices now.’’

Jang isn’t alone in adopting this strategy ― the number of ``digital misers’’ has jumped as demonstrated by the rising sales of low-priced tablet PCs and the popularity of social-commerce services.

The nation’s Web-retailing giants such as Auction and G-Market have seen of late that low-priced tablets are quickly picked up by consumers, thought to be mostly in their 20s and 30s.

Auction said that 1,000 tablets equipped with Google’s Android operating system Ice Cream Sandwich sold out in 10 minutes early last month. They sold for 269,000 won.

G-Market also said that hundreds of 9.7-inch smart-pads priced at 299,000 won sold out in just five minutes late February.

In late, March Gallup Korea surveyed 500 people aged between 20 and 44 in Seoul and its vicinity and found that 98.8 percent of the respondents knew of social-commerce services, up from 40 percent last June.

In line with their popularity, a host of social-commerce companies have sprouted up over the past few years and expanded items across the board from factory merchandise and restaurant coupons to overseas travel products and even real estate.