Baby product spending booms in the age of the 'VIB'

Industry

Published: 26 Mar. 2023, 17:00

Baby product spending booms in the age of the 'VIB'

An Atelier Choux pop-up store at Shinsegae Department Store's Gangnam Branch [SHINSEGAE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Koreans are spending more on baby products amid tumbling birth rates.

Parents who treat their baby as a “VIB,” or "very important baby," are willing to buy luxurious infant clothes and strollers or spend millions of won to throw the baby’s first birthday party in a hotel.

According to Shinsegae’s online shopping mall SSG.com on Wednesday, its members spent 140,000 won ($109) on average on baby products last month, up 23.9 percent on year from 113,000 won. In February 2021, people spend 101,000 won to buy baby products.

People used three times more money on baby products than on food.

In a report on online food purchase trends announced by Opensurvey, a research firm, people spent between 30,000 and 50,000 won on average to buy food from e-commerce companies.

A trend dubbed “eight pockets,” where some eight members of the family — parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles — open their wallets for a baby, is obsolete. In the era of “ten pockets,” non-family members also chip in.

“The rise of ‘ten pockets’ and ‘petfam’ [people who regard their pets as family members] has led the growth in related markets,” said SSG.com lifestyle section’s Kim Hyun-seong.

A popular doljanchi, or first birthday party, venue at The Shilla Seoul hotel in central Seoul. [SHILLA HOTEL]

Securing a venue for the baby’s doljanchi, or first birthday party, is more competitive than ever as parents who couldn’t host the party due to the pandemic choose to have a belated doljanchi.

Doljanchi can cost over ten million won if the fees for photos and hanbok (Korean traditional dress) rentals are added on top of meal charges. Nevertheless, the demand for lavish doljanchi soars amid falling birth rates as people are willing to throw a fancy party for their one-and-only kid’s once-in-a-lifetime event.

“I’ve made about 100 reservation requests to hotel restaurants but couldn’t find a spot,” said a 35-year-old parent, adding some hotels claimed that all their restaurants are booked until August.

In some five-star hotels in Seoul, reservations for doljanchi later in the year are full just a few minutes after they begin booking.

Baby bouncers sold for more than 200,000 won ($156) on SSG.com [SSG.COM]

For the department store industry, kids’ luxuries have become one of the most profitable sectors. Hyundai Department Store’s revenue on kids’ luxury products this year grew by 29.3 percent on year. Lotte Department Store’s rose by 25 percent and Shisegae Department Store by 22.5 percent.

These growth numbers are five to six times greater than that of other luxury products.

Department stores are trying to rake in more revenue from this trend.

Shinsegae Department Store opened a pop-up store of Aterlier Choux, a French luxury brand for kids, in its Gangnam branch last month. Hyundai Department opened a Baby Dior store in its main Apgujeong branch last month and a Thom Browne pop-up store in the Pangyo branch in November.

“The revenue on kids’ products is rising as more people seek to provide the best for their one-and-only child,” said Kang Dong-gu, a children’s product merchandiser at Hyundai Department Store.

BY CHOI SUN-EUL [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]