Daily Open Run Due to 'Kedeheon Fever'... The Zalpha Generation is Different

[Financial News] "It's about buying 'my own great happiness' with a small amount of money."
On the 14th, the accessory shop zone on the 6th floor of I'Park Mall in Yongsan, Seoul, was crowded with people in their 10s and 20s enjoying shopping despite it being a weekday afternoon. They were commonly attaching hundreds of types of keyrings and parts representing their initials to their bags. On the same day, in front of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, the queue for open run (waiting before opening time to purchase products) continued even before the opening. They were waiting to visit the official goods shop 'Myuz' at the museum due to the Netflix movie 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' fever.

According to the industry on the 18th, the Zalpha generation, emerging as the main consumer group, is pioneering a new market with extremely 'personalized' consumption preferences, unlike the older generation. They are willingly opening their wallets for keyrings and dolls to express individuality, even if they are not necessary for daily life.
In fact, goods collaborated with intellectual property (IP) holding large fandoms such as popular characters, artists, and sports teams continue to sell out immediately upon release. 
In the limited edition release service 'Musinsa Drop' by Musinsa, the collaboration between 'Hankyodong' of Sanrio Characters and YouTuber 'Chimchakman' last month saw the initial stock of four types of T-shirts sold out in just 5 minutes. During the week-long pre-sale at Musinsa offline stores in Hongdae, Seongsu, and Myeongdong last month, the sales site for BLACKPINK World Tour 'Deadline' goods attracted a total of 115,000 visitors in a week. Convenience stores like CU, GS25, and 7-Eleven have also jumped into collaborations with K-League and professional baseball teams. 
An industry official said, "Consumers in their teens and twenties within the fandom have a strong desire to express their taste and identity through goods consumption," and predicted that "the power of collaboration marketing will continue for the time being."  
Keyrings, with sales growing rapidly every year, are a representative consumption item of the Zalpha generation. The category is expanding to include not only character dolls but also beauty items like lipsticks. According to Olive Young, the search volume for the 'keyring' keyword last month increased by 1394% compared to the previous year, and in the select shop 29CM, the transaction amount for 'keyring' related products from January to July this year increased by more than 50% compared to the previous year.
The character 'Labubu', at the center of the recent keyring fever, is a character product created by Pop Mart, a Chinese art toy specialist company, characterized by big eyes and sharp teeth. It is gaining popularity by targeting the collection desire of people in their teens and twenties with a random box format where you don't know which character will come out. At the Pop Mart vending machine recently set up in 'Sweet Park' at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam in Seoul, a waiting line to purchase Labubu formed even before the department store's opening time, to the extent that a dedicated staff was assigned.
A keyring consumer in their 20s, Mr. Lee, said, "The small surprise effect of random goods and the satisfaction of being able to buy happiness with little money seem to be the background of the keyring fever."

The consumption characteristics of the Zalpha generation have also been proven in the niche perfume market, not in luxury perfumes.
According to market research firm Euromonitor, the domestic perfume market grew from 600 billion won in 2019 to 793 billion won in 2023, and is expected to surpass 1 trillion won this year. In particular, the share of niche perfumes in the overall perfume market reached 90% as of 2023.
Last month, the monthly ranking No. 1 in the perfume category of Musinsa was occupied by the product of the domestic indie perfume brand 'Vivian'. It gained sales by word of mouth through social media (SNS). In fact, the search volume for the 'perfume' keyword in Musinsa in the first half of this year increased by 175% compared to the same period last year, and 'men's perfume' surged by 792%.
An industry official said, "Zalpha generation consumers prefer brands that can express their own taste rather than luxury perfumes that everyone knows," and explained that "recently, teenage customers flocking to the niche perfume market find the specific perfume used by their favorite idol member as a selling point."
localplace@fnnews.com Kim Hyeonji Jeong Sanghee reporter