Young Koreans flock to Daiso amid high inflation
Shoppers browse the beauty section of a Daiso store in Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun District, Seoul, on April 8. Photo by Kim Hee-seo
Low-cost retailer Daiso becomes a go-to shopping spot for young Koreans as inflation bites
A Daiso store in Sinchon, western Seoul, was crowded with college students on Wednesday evening.
“There’s something fun about shopping at Daiso,” said Song Seung-min, a 26-year-old college student who stopped by to browse the cosmetics section. “It makes me feel rich because I can buy all kinds of things without actually spending much.”
Thrift-driven spending grows amid high inflation
The rising popularity of Daiso shopping is part of an emerging consumer trend among Koreans in their 20s and 30s called “small indulgences.” Rather than cutting back on spending altogether, the trend refers to a selective pattern of consumption seeking enjoyment and satisfaction at a lower cost.
These consumption trends are driven by high inflation, which has persisted since 2022. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index rose 5.1 percent that year, marking the start of a sustained period of elevated inflation.
At the time, online communities and social media were flooded with content such as the “no-spend challenge,” in which people tried to avoid spending for a set period, and “beggar rooms,” where users shared their expenses and encouraged one another to save money.
Song recalled those days. “Back in 2022, my friends and I used to share our spending with one another and encourage each other to spend less,” she said.
A KakaoTalk Open Chat search for "beggar room," a chatroom trend that gained popularity among people in their 20s and 30s in 2022, when participants shared their spending records and encouraged one another to save money. Captured from KakaoTalk
Back then, not spending was widely seen as the key to saving money, but the trend has now shifted.
According to a report released by 20sLab last December based on a survey of 1,200 respondents ages 15 to 55, 76 percent of Generation Z respondents ages 15 to 29 said “affordable prices” were an important factor in their purchasing decisions. At the same time, 87.6 percent also said “product performance and features” mattered when making a purchase.
Taken together with last year’s 2.1 percent rise in the consumer price index, continuing the prolonged period of inflation, the findings suggest that young Koreans are seeking forms of consumption that deliver high utility at a relatively low cost.
Experts see the trend as both an extension of earlier “spend less” challenges and a fundamental shift in consumer behavior.
“On the surface, they may sound similar in that both are about spending less,” said Kim Woo-hyuk, a professor of consumer science at the University of Incheon. “But when you look at actual consumer behavior, this is not really about avoiding spending altogether. Rather, consumers are applying an increasingly stricter standard to judge whether a purchase is justified and how much utility it delivers.”
The change reflects a reorganization of consumer standards around “low cost, high satisfaction,” in which financial pressure has combined with value-driven consumption, he said.
The appeal of 3,000 won Chanel dupes
Daiso’s growing popularity is example of the change. A 2025 report by consumer data analysis platform OpenSurvey, based on a survey of 1,500 adults ages 20 to 69 conducted last November, showed Daiso ranking fifth among major shopping channels, up four spots from a year earlier.
Its online presence is growing as well. According to Wiseapp-Retail, the number of monthly active users on the Daiso app reached 5.16 million in February, up 42 percent from a year earlier and the highest level since the app was launched.
The cosmetics category stood out most in sales growth. According to OpenSurvey’s 2025 Beauty Trend Report, the share of consumers using Daiso as a channel for buying beauty products rose 9.2 percentage points from a year earlier.
A post recommending Daiso beauty products with high view counts on social media platform X / Captured from X
Jung Yoo-ra, a 25-year-old college student, said she often finds herself buying cosmetics at Daiso.
“The stores make it easy and enjoyable for customers to try out products, so people naturally end up staying longer,” she said. “There’s such a wide variety of cosmetics that you almost always end up buying one or two. That kind of small shopping is part of the fun.”
Part of Daiso’s popularity is also tied to the rise of so-called “dupe” consumption. Short for “duplication,” it refers to a lower-priced alternative that closely mimics the design or function of a more expensive brand-name product.
Daiso’s Son & Park Arti Spread Color Balm, for example, offers a function similar to Chanel’s Lip and Cheek Balm, but sells for just 3,000 won ($2).
Choi Yoo-jin, a 24-year-old college student who recently bought color cosmetics such as eyeliner and contouring products at a Daiso store in Sinchon, said the range and quality of beauty products has improved to the point that she no longer feels much difference from the department store brands she used to use.
“Now I even find myself looking forward to seeing what kind of dupe product Daiso will come out with next for well-known brand items,” she said.
The beauty section of a Daiso store in Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun District, Seoul. Daiso has recently drawn growing interest from consumers in their 20s and 30s on the back of its low-priced cosmetics and dupe products. Photo by Kim Hee-seo
A spot for browsing
More than 30,000 varieties of products are estimated to be sold at Daiso. That breadth helps explain why some consumers say they visit the chain simply to browse, making it more than just a household goods store and turning it into an accessible shopping destination for young people.
According to a survey conducted by Open Survey in November last year of 1,069 people who had visited a Daiso store within the previous year, 29.1 percent said they went to the store simply to look around or spend time. Another 89.2 percent said there were certain items they habitually checked out even when they had no specific intention to buy anything, suggesting Daiso is evolving into a retail space for browsing and discovery.
Daiso has recently expanded its product lineup beyond household goods into a wider range of categories, including health supplements and beauty products. Photo by Kim Hee-seo
“There’s fun in mindlessly drifting into a store to check out new things on display,” said Choi. “It certainly feels like shopping as I search for something useful, like a treasure hunt game.”
Professor Kim said Daiso has been successful in satisfying the desires of young generation to explore and come up with unique ways of spending.
“For young people, this is partly an expansion of a self-directed culture of consumption that seeks both enjoyment and utility within the limits of self-control, rather than merely reducing expenditure.”
Young Koreans are still willing to save money, but in a different way. No longer living like ascetics in “beggar rooms,” they seek small happiness in their daily lives through purchases such as a $2 lip product. Kim expects the culture to continue as the fundamental criteria behind consumer decision-making are themselves changing.
“It is an important change affecting retail strategies and brand positioning,” he added.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.