Thehallyu Brings Korean Fashion Craze to Fans in Indonesia

Indonesia has Korean fever. Sensing an opportunity, Korean fashion e-store Thehallyu rolled out an Indonesian language version of the site last month. And just a few weeks after the launch, Thehallyu now hits weekly sales of more than US$10,000 globally since its launch in December.

(Clarification: While the site has been up and running since December, Thehallyu only started to sell its wares in March.)

Founder Kim Min-soo explains about this decision to target the Indonesian market:

Based on research results, the Korean wave in Indonesia is larger than in neighboring countries, not only from the scope of entertainment such as music and drama, but also fashion and lifestyle.

Most of the products are made in and shipped from South Korea, and to make sure its operation in Indonesia runs smoothly, Thehallyu partners with Inlite Indonesia. The local partner has expertise in digital marketing research and consulting.

At the moment, there are only women’s fashion items being sold on the site, but the company plans to launch its men’s fashion in a couple of weeks. The site looks very simple and clean, and you can browse through its catalog either by brands or item categories. So far, the site offers over 5,000 products.

The products aren’t cheap, though. The average price is around IDR 300,000 ($31). But Kim says that Indonesia’s average expenditure on online shopping is IDR 500,000 ($51) per transaction right now, which means that the store’s product pricing is still in-line with the market. Thehallyu’s main target consumer is those aged between 18 to 35 years old.

Look, we avoided mentioning Gangnam Style… D’OH!

Thehallyu also offers discounts of 15 percent and 20 percent for resellers and wholesalers for a spending minimum of $500 and $750 respectively. So they are implementing both B2C and B2B business models.

One thing that the site still needs to work on is its payment options. It accepts PayPal, but not a lot of Indonesians are using that. If users opt to pay via credit cards, they need to do so in US dollars. The Thehallyu uses only BCA bank for its accounts in Indonesia, which will incur a small administration fee if transferred through other banks. The team is looking to add more payment options soon, with Mandiri Clickpay looming big on its agenda.

Besides Indonesia, Thehallyu targets France and Japan too, and you can change the pricing currency according to the corresponding nation. Thehallyu offers a flat shipping rate of $18 worldwide, but if users make purchases above $150, then it will be free.

TheHallyu is one of the latest vertical e-commerce sites popping up in Indonesia. And just like the lingerie site OgahMahal, those stores serve a niche and will have their own loyal customers. The Korean appeal helps a lot in Indonesia these days – something that chat app KakaoTalk is also emphasizing in its Indonesian marketing.