Early heat wave sends cooling product sales soaring

Lee, an office worker in her 20s, recently bought deodorant — something she would not normally do until July. "I was sweating on my way to work because of the sudden heat, so I rushed out to buy some," she said.

Stepping into an Olive Young store in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, shoppers were greeted by a prominent "Survival Beauty" display. The promotional stand, which the health and beauty retailer has been running since April in response to an earlier-than-usual heat wave, was stocked with cooling sprays, cooling tissues and cooling pads designed to reduce body heat from pores to head to toe. A cooling sanitary pad in blue packaging was on display in the feminine care aisle. At a nearby Daiso, a small rack near the checkout counter held cooling wet wipes, cooling sheets and cooling sprays.

The early summer-like heat has sent demand for so-called cooling products soaring. Sales of everything from cooling innerwear to deodorants, portable fans and cooling sanitary pads have climbed, and retailers are ramping up their marketing efforts in response.

The numbers bear it out. At Olive Young, sales of makeup fixer from April through June 21 jumped 701 percent year on year. Deodorant sprays and deodorants rose 94 percent and 36 percent, respectively. Among product categories in the Survival Beauty campaign, cooling care posted the sharpest sales growth at 46 percent, followed by blemish care at 40 percent, oil and sweat care at 33 percent, and UV care at 32 percent.

Daiso's cooling innerwear category saw sales double in May compared with the same period last year, and the retailer expanded its lineup from 70 items last year to 90 this year. On e-commerce platform 11st, sales of ice vests from June 1 through June 21 surged 110 percent year on year. Nail polish sales rose 57 percent as sandal and slipper season arrived earlier, driving up demand for pedicures. Sales of Rael's cooling sanitary pad "Airy Cool" jumped 300 percent in May from the previous month.

"Consumers are increasingly looking to stay comfortable in their daily lives, not just escape the heat, and cooling products are becoming a summer essential," an industry official said. "As heat waves grow more prolonged, the range of related products will only keep expanding."

“우린 성수로 간다” 강남 떠나는 이커머스, 왜? [언박싱]

https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10784797

"We're heading to Seongsu" — why e-commerce companies are leaving Gangnam behind.