President triggers price cuts in sanitary pad market
Manufacturers, retailers on alert as gov't applies pressure
Sanitary pads are displayed at a supermarket in Seoul, April 17, 2024. Newsis
A growing number of companies are joining the trend of offering low-priced sanitary pads, after President Lee Jae Myung repeatedly criticized the “relatively expensive” prices of menstrual products in Korea compared with those in other countries.
E-Mart24 said Monday it will run a “buy one, get one free” promotion throughout this month to ease financial burdens for customers purchasing sanitary pads.
The convenience store chain will also offer a 20 percent discount for shoppers who pay with the Toss Pay mobile app. In addition, customers who order one of 10 types of sanitary pads through the E-Mart24 mobile app and pick up their purchase on the same day will receive discount coupons for up to 63 percent off.
Coupang, which has locked horns with the government over a massive customer data leak, is keeping pace with the administration in terms of lowering sanitary pad prices.
According to the e-commerce giant, its private label subsidiary recently cut the price of Luna Mee sanitary pads by up to 29 percent, to 99 won ($0.07) per medium-sized pad and 105 won per large one. As a result, a four-pack of 18 medium-sized pads fell to 7,120 won from 9,390 won, while a four-pack of 16 large pads dropped to 6,690 won from 9,440 won.
“We will fully absorb the losses from the price cuts,” Coupang said.
Manufacturers are not exempt from efforts to reduce the price of sanitary pads. They have already come under an antitrust probe over possible price rigging, following the president’s order issued during a policy briefing last December.
Yuhan-Kimberly, Korea’s leading sanitary pad maker, said last month it will expand offline sales of its three types of budget products and plans to launch a new lineup of low-priced pads during the first half of this year.
LG Unicharm, a joint venture between LG Household & Health Care and Japan’s Unicharm, also announced that it will release a new affordable product next month. The company said the new item will be priced at nearly half the cost of its premium line.
Kleannara is considering increasing the production and supply of its budget sanitary pads.
“I hope these efforts take firm hold,” Lee wrote on social media on Jan. 26, sharing news about the manufacturers’ plans to expand their supply of affordable products.