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| Posts on Danggeun Market's "Let's Buy Together" section show consumers looking for neighbors to shop for food with online on Nov. 1. Screencaptured from Danggeun Market's mobile platform |
By Kim Jae-heun
A 33-year-old housewife surnamed Choi has recently begun shopping for fresh food and other daily necessities together with her neighbors on Danggeun Market, the country's largest online flea market, to cope with soaring prices.
"We buy meat, veggies and fruit together in large quantities and share them. This way, we pay less and have just the right amount for three to four days," Choi said. "Food prices nowadays are so crazy that it is too expensive to shop in large amounts alone."
Another 34-year-old consumer, Chang, has opened a group chat with his neighbors so as to have food items delivered together.
"I don't cook for myself every day, so I don't want to buy food ingredients in large quantities and just keep them in my refrigerator. Ordering food with my neighbors can save me some money and even if it is not a big amount, it still helps. Buying food together saves delivery costs too," Chang said.
The online flea market platform launched its "Let's Buy Together" service in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in July to enable people to cope with rising food prices.
Consumers can connect with others in their neighborhood who seek to make food purchases together. The posts show how much each person has to pay for the food and where they will meet to divvy up the order when it arrives.
Between August and October, the number of posts on the Let's Buy Together section on Danggeun Market increased 45 percent compared to that in the previous three months.
Due to the rising cost of food materials and soaring exchange rates, food prices here have increased so much that it has pushed people to jointly purchase fresh food together.
"In the beginning of our service launch, people only ordered food online from restaurants to save on the delivery expense. But as food prices soared recently, an increasing number of people are shopping for fresh food and daily necessities on our platforms," a Danggeun Market official said.
Meanwhile, instant noodle makers such as Nongshim, Samyang Foods and Ottogi have increased their product prices, ranging from 9 percent to 11 percent last month. Food firms like CJ CheilJedang and Daesang also raised the price of their sauce items at a rate of between 11 percent and 13 percent.
Dairy firms have also hinted at increasing consumer prices for their milk products by a maximum of 500 won ($0.35) at the end of this year.
