"Why Not If It's from China? I Buy It Because It's Cheap"... C-Commerce Grows on the Back of the Downturn, Eating into the Low-Priced Fashion Market [Fashion Recipe]

According to The Financial News, "recession-style consumption" is spreading as persistent high inflation overlaps with global economic uncertainty. Consumers are cutting back on non-essential spending and seeking better value for money, and Chinese e-commerce platforms (C-commerce) are rapidly penetrating even the domestic fashion market. Their strategy of ultra-low prices and fast fashion is gaining traction among people in their 10s to 30s, and these platforms are starting to replace existing fashion platforms.
Industry data as of the 13th show that domestic consumption has recently been on a downward trend. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, consumer prices rose 2.1% last year, while real consumer spending, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.4%. This is the first decline in five years. Nominal spending increased as prices went up, but actual consumption volume shrank, indicating that higher living costs are pushing consumers to focus more on price. On top of this, growing global uncertainty, including conflicts in the Middle East, is driving up import prices and slowing domestic demand, further reinforcing the preference for low-priced goods.
Against this backdrop, C-commerce is growing at a rapid pace. According to IGAWorks, the Chinese fashion platform SHEIN recorded 270,000 new installs last month, surpassing domestic platforms such as Zigzag and Musinsa to rank No. 1 in the fashion category. The number of users in their 20s and 30s nearly tripled in a year, from 430,000 to 1.22 million.
The Chinese general shopping platform Temu also ranked first among all shopping apps last month with 749,320 new installs, while AliExpress remained near the top with 369,020 new installs. Their monthly active users reached 7.42 million for Temu and 7.12 million for AliExpress, totaling about 14.54 million users combined.
C-commerce is now making a full-scale entry into the domestic fashion market. According to the Korea Customs Service (KCS), imports of Chinese apparel into Korea reached 4.8 billion dollars in 2024 and 5.2 billion dollars in 2025, increasing for two consecutive years and hitting record highs. Analysts say that the fast-changing domestic fashion trends, combined with the rise of "dupe consumption"—buying low-priced substitutes for popular products—have created a perfect match with ultra-cheap fast-fashion platforms.
However, safety concerns are emerging as a key variable. A recent inspection by the Seoul Metropolitan Government of children's products sold on Chinese platforms such as Temu and SHEIN found some items containing lead at up to 549 times the legal limit, among other violations of safety standards. As a result, authorities have requested that these products be removed from sale, and calls are growing for stronger oversight.
Experts say this consumption pattern is closely linked to the domestic economic situation, where high inflation and polarization are deepening. Lee Young-ae, a professor in the Department of Consumer Science at Incheon National University, stated, "As economic conditions fail to improve, price has become a critical factor in purchasing decisions, driving more consumers to C-commerce platforms that compete on low prices." She added, "In the low-priced segment, ultra-cheap strategies are intensifying, while in the high-end segment, brand power is becoming more important, making the polarization of the market increasingly clear." She went on to say, "If safety issues gain more attention, the trend could be partially adjusted, but unless the underlying economic conditions improve, value-for-money-driven consumption is likely to continue for the time being."
localplace@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Hyun-ji Reporter