Daiso vs Olive Young vs E-Mart - Where Koreans Really Shop
The most common shopping mistake newcomers make in Korea isn't overpaying. It's going to the wrong kind of store for the job: hunting for a phone cable in a cosmetics chain, buying a week of vegetables in a department store basement, or driving to a hypermarket on the one Sunday it's legally shut. Koreans split their everyday shopping between four kinds of places, and each one wins at something different.
Daiso: the default for anything cheap and practical
Daiso sells almost everything at six fixed price points: 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 won. Nothing goes above 5,000 won, and the company keeps the large majority of its range at 2,000 won or less. That pricing structure is the whole appeal. You don't compare prices at Daiso; you just check which tier a thing falls into.
It's the right first stop for household basics: hangers, slippers, kitchen tools, storage boxes, phone cables, travel bottles, umbrellas, and stationery. The big branches near major stations spread across several floors, so look at the floor directory by the entrance rather than wandering. In recent years Daiso has also expanded into budget skincare and cosmetics sold under the same 5,000-won ceiling, which makes it a real alternative to a drugstore for basic items like cotton pads, sheet masks and small-size cleansers.
One thing to check before buying anything electrical: Korea runs on 220V with round two-pin sockets. Daiso sells cheap plug adapters, but an adapter only changes the plug shape, not the voltage, so look at the label on your hair dryer or straightener before you plug it in.
Olive Young: skincare and bundles, not medicine
Olive Young is the drugstore chain for skincare, sunscreen, makeup, masks, hair care and small convenience items like hangover drinks and pain-relief patches. If you've already browsed the cosmetics shops in Myeongdong, think of Olive Young as the multi-brand version found in almost every neighborhood.
The pricing logic is the opposite of Daiso's. Olive Young doesn't do everyday low prices; it runs constant promotions, with bundle deals and gift-with-purchase offers rotating through the shelves, plus a few large storewide sales a year that locals wait for. If you're about to buy a full-size sunscreen or serum, check whether the same item is on a bundle deal or whether a sale period is coming up, because the gap between a regular day and a promotion day can be significant.
What Olive Young is not: a pharmacy. Despite the drugstore label, actual medicines come from a pharmacy, marked with the green cross sign and the word 약국. Olive Young is for toiletries and comfort items, not treatment. For what a pharmacy can and can't do, see our guide to clinics, hospitals and pharmacies.
Hypermarkets: the big weekly shop, with legal closing days
E-Mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart are the three big hypermarket chains, and they're where Korean families do the big grocery and household run: bulk rice, detergent, a case of water, a rice cooker, a duvet. Prices on staples are generally good, and they're the most reliable place for a wide range in one stop.
Two rules make hypermarkets different from shops in many other countries. First, large retailers are legally required to close a couple of days each month. For years this was the second and fourth Sunday nationwide, but local governments can move the closures to weekdays, and dozens of districts have now done so, including Daegu, much of Busan, and Seocho and Dongdaemun in Seoul. The result is that two branches of the same chain can be closed on different days. Check the posted schedule for your specific branch before planning a big trip. Second, they can't open between midnight and 10 a.m., so an early-morning run isn't an option.
Practical details: bring your own shopping bag, since large supermarkets no longer hand out disposable plastic bags, and have a 100-won coin ready, because many trolleys still use a coin lock. E-Mart also runs No Brand discount stores and the warehouse-style Traders chain, which sells in bulk without a membership fee, while Costco Korea works on membership just as it does elsewhere.
Traditional markets: cheaper produce, family-size portions
Neighborhood traditional markets are usually the cheapest place for fruit and vegetables, dried goods like anchovies and seaweed, rice cakes, and banchan (side dishes) sold by weight or by the container. Locals use them for freshness and price, not for the experience.
The catch for solo residents is portion size. Many stalls sell in bulk portions aimed at families, such as a whole basket of apples or a large bag of greens, so a traditional market is great value if you'll actually cook it all and less so if you live alone in a studio. Side-dish stalls are the exception: a few small containers of banchan are the easiest way to make a home-cooked meal without cooking. Markets are cash-friendly, and many vendors also accept bank transfers or cards, but carrying some won is still wise. Our Namdaemun Market guide covers the tourist-market side, including bargaining.
Where to find imported groceries
Missing cheddar, tortillas or a particular cereal? Imported groceries are reliably found in three places: department store food halls in the basement levels, the foreign-food sections of hypermarkets, and specialty shops in areas like Itaewon. Expect to pay noticeably more than for the domestic equivalents, and the gap is widest on things like cheese and breakfast cereal. Many long-term residents end up buying imports in small amounts and switching to Korean versions of staples they use every day.
Which store for which job
- Hangers, cables, adapters, kitchen gadgets, travel bottles: Daiso
- Sunscreen, skincare, masks, hangover drinks: Olive Young, ideally during a promotion
- Medicine: a pharmacy, not Olive Young
- Big grocery and household run: a hypermarket, after checking that branch's closing days
- Vegetables, fruit, side dishes on a budget: the nearest traditional market, with some cash
- Imported food: department store food halls, hypermarket import aisles, or Itaewon
Save each store's nearest branch in Naver Map or Kakao Map during your first week, and the rest of your errands get much faster.
Official sources
This guide is checked against Korea Tourism Organization. Prices, hours, and procedures change — confirm time-sensitive details there before you rely on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Daiso in Korea the same as Daiso in Japan?
No. Korean Daiso has been run by a Korean company for years and uses its own six-tier price system in won, so the product range and prices differ from Daiso stores in Japan or elsewhere.
Are hypermarkets in Korea open every Sunday?
Not always. Each district sets two mandatory closing days a month, and while many still use Sundays, a growing number have moved them to weekdays, so search the branch name with the Korean word 휴무 (closing day) to see its schedule.
Is Olive Young cheaper than duty-free for Korean skincare?
It depends on the product and timing. Duty-free stores remove tax but mostly stock bigger brands, while Olive Young carries far more mid-range and indie Korean brands and can sometimes undercut duty-free prices during bundle promotions.