Hanjin's Hoottown slashes overseas delivery fees up to 50% to ride yen weakness, year-end shopping surge

Hanjin's overseas direct-purchase platform Hoottown is cutting delivery fees this month, capitalizing on a weak yen and the year-end shopping season. The company plans to focus its discounts on Japanese character merchandise, a category that saw a sharp rise in forwarding orders during last year's holiday period.

Hanjin said Wednesday it will run "Hoottown Black Friday Week" through the end of this month, offering up to 50% off delivery fees for major overseas shopping markets including Japan, the United States and China.

The promotion was designed around last year's year-end forwarding data. Hoottown compared order volumes from Oct. 15 to Dec. 31 last year against the preceding period — July 31 to Oct. 14 — and found a significant surge in Japanese character merchandise orders.

Forwarding orders for Sanrio character products jumped 679% over that stretch. Pokémon-related items rose 452%, and orders for Chiikawa, another popular Japanese character brand, climbed 150%.

Hanjin attributed the spike to the release of year-end limited-edition products and collaborations between global brands. Demand also grew across other categories, including electronics and clothing.

In electronics, forwarding orders for Sony products rose 128%, while Apple products were up 55.5%. In fashion, Nike orders increased 65.3% and Adidas climbed 59%.

The weak yen is also driving demand for Japanese goods. The won-yen rate has recently hovered around 840 won per 100 yen, lowering the effective Korean-won price of products sold in Japan and reducing the cost burden for domestic shoppers buying from Japanese retailers.

To meet that demand, Hanjin is offering delivery fee discounts of 10 to 50 percent throughout November, with the rate varying by product category.

The event follows a "weekly drop" format, with a different product category discounted each week. Users receive one discount code per week, valid for a single use.

The first week covers fashion products from brands including Nike, New Balance and Adidas. The second week expands the discount to electronics and IT products from Apple, Sony and Google.

The third week focuses on character merchandise and figurines — Chiikawa, Pokémon and Sanrio items among them. The fourth and final week offers a blanket discount applicable to all product categories.

Separate from the weekly promotions, users also receive a daily 10 percent delivery fee discount code, redeemable once per day. The discount is capped at 50,000 won ($37) per use.

New users of "Sajwoyo," Hoottown's consumer-to-consumer personal shopping service, will receive an additional benefit. First-time users of the service during the promotional period can claim one 50 percent delivery fee coupon per account.

Alongside the discounts, Hanjin will also run a "kick item" showcase highlighting popular products available for direct purchase abroad, with a curated selection centered on baby and childcare goods, automotive accessories and everyday household items.

Hanjin said it plans to use the year-end uptick in overseas direct-purchase demand to expand the reach of its forwarding service.

"With the prolonged weak-yen trend coinciding with the global year-end discount season, demand for direct purchases — especially Japanese character goods and limited-edition tech products — is surging," a Hoottown official said. "We hope this 'Hoottown Black Friday Week,' which cuts delivery costs in half, gives consumers the most affordable and convenient way to get the overseas products they want."