Selling Outdoor Goods to Korea on Coupang

Have you ever been curious about business opportunities in Korea? Selling your products to the Korean market can be extremely profitable and can increase your loyal customer base. With approximately 20 million customers shopping for their everyday needs, listing your items on Coupang is a logical step for any seller who wants to give their items the best chance for sales success in Korea. Korea is also the 4th largest e-Commerce market after China, the US, & UK. If you’re selling or planning to sell outdoor items on Coupang, you’re in luck! Outdoors and sporting goods are a popular product category among Korean customers. The sales for sports, outdoor and leisure items in 2022 has grown year over year. While sports & leisure comprise only 3% of cross-border online purchases from Korea, it is one of the fastest growing categories, growing 42% between 2019 and 2020 and a whopping 63% between 2020 and 2021. Golf, tennis, and camping are trendy hobbies among Koreans and are regularly featured among our top-selling items on Coupang Marketplace. 

Last year, Korea’s golf population reached an estimated 5.64 million, overtaking Japan with 5.60 million for the first time. In Korea, 10.2% of people age 13 or older played golf, and 5.7% of the Japanese population age 15 or older did so. The difference is striking since Japan has a far higher population of 125.5 million to Korea’s 51.7 million.

Golf is an incredibly popular sport in Korea and is a common setting for casual business conversations. Throughout the year of 2022, corporations in Korea spent USD 1.3 billion at golf clubs across the country, according to a study on company credit card spending released by the Golf Consumer Agency of Korea. As of October 2021, Korean golf imports came to USD 610 million! Golf balls and clubs sell well, especially in the warmer seasons when golfers golf more frequently. Popular golf product categories in 2023 include golf clubs, balls and apparel. 

It is also important to understand that when Korean customers play golf, they try to dress the part, keeping up with golfing apparel trends. In fact, according to the Korea Herald, Korea is in the midst of a golf-wear fashion craze the summer of 2023! When it comes to the golfwear market, worth USD 8.87 billion, Korea is an unrivaled market leader with 45 percent of the market share, showing that nearly half of the world’s golf clothing in 2022 was consumed in Korea. Highly sought-after brands include well-known international labels such as Callaway, PXG, Titleist, Honma, Mizuno, and TaylorMade, selling popular golf apparel, shoes, bags, and hats. 

Tennis is another increasingly popular sport, especially among young Koreans. Naver Datalabs shows increased tennis-related searches, especially for Koreans between 19 and 39. In fact, the number of searches for the word tennis in all age groups have been on a slight upward trend for the past few years, showing steeper increases starting in early 2022, in both younger and older ager groups. In addition, the number of indoor tennis facilities in the greater Seoul region rose from 200 to 500 within just a year! Top tennis items of 2023 include tennis rackets, badminton rackets, tennis bags, tennis ball carts, tennis apparel, tennis shoes, and badminton apparel and shoes. Popular tennis products and accessories brands include Wilson, Prince, ASENVER, ODEA, Sycassi, and YONEX.  

Camping has also gained popularity, especially during and following the Covid pandemic. Lanterns, camping chairs and tents are regular mainstays on Naver Datalab. During the summer months, searches for camping tables, cooking tools for camping, tents, camping lights, and tarps become more popular as the warm weather invites more outdoor activities. The summer of 2022 saw picnics and picnic items, as well as hiking, fishing, and general sports leisure activities trend upwards among Korean consumers.  

So, how much will it cost to sell your items? Check out our article on how much it will cost to sell in each category on Coupang.

Want to find out more? Download our Outdoor Goods Seller pack here!