Korea starts retail alcohol sales by mobile app

James Suckling pays a visit to a wine shop in Seoul in October 2019.

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While many countries offer wine delivery to your door, saving the chore of carrying heavy bottles around, Korea has strictly forbidden delivery of most alcoholic beverages, excepting a few such as traditional Korean drinks. While the door is still shut, the window for online wine shopping is starting to creak open. 

Starting last month, The National Tax Service now allows retail businesses to sell alcoholic drinks on mobile platforms. So-called ‘smart orders’ allow consumers to place and pay for an order of wine through a mobile application. They still need to go to an offline store to pick up their purchase and to prove they are legally old enough to buy –  the delivery of wine is still prohibited – but this marks a significant change in the alcohol retail sales industry in Korea.

With the spread of the novel coronavirus, many have opted to stay home rather than going to a bar or restaurant to enjoy their favorite wines. Combined with this new deregulation, sales of wine online have been booming.

“For customers, it is like having an online showcase of their own to browse wines from,” said Lee He-rim, owner of 47 Store which offers curated collections of wine sets. “It’s now easier for those who want to get information online and then purchase right away.” 

According to JoongAng Ilbo, Emart 24 has seen a whopping 784 percent year-on-year increase in their wine sales from January to May 24. 

Many convenient stores are now preparing to set up this smart order service to make wine purchases more convenient.