Consumer Reaction
The sales of personal hygiene items on online shopping sites are skyrocketing with the fear of MERS spreading nationwide. In the meantime, offline stores are concerned about a rapid decline in the number of visiting customers.
In the online shopping mall Gmarket, the sales of such products soared by up to 1,400 percent compared to the previous week between May 27 and June 2. Masks and hand cleaners recorded 1,454 percent and 673 percent increases, respectively. On Auction, another online mall, the percentages amounted to 935 percent and 638 percent during the same period. In the social commerce website WeMakePrice, the sales of those products increased by more than 400 percent year on year between May 20 and June 1, and foods known to enhance immunity are sought after as well. For instance, tomato and red ginseng sales volumes went up by 85 percent and 231 percent each.
Meanwhile, major offline stores are suffering from a decrease in sales, as more and more people are shunning them. E-Mart’s sales between May 29 and June 2, for example, declined by 1.2 percent year-on-year, and Lotte Mart’s dropped by 4.2 percent during the period.
People are avoiding hospitals, too. “Medical institutions are now regarded as the source of the infection in the wake of the outbreak of the tertiary infection,” said a local hospital employee, adding, “It seems that even university hospitals’ funeral halls are seeing a decreasing number of mourners these days.”