(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — After establishing a presence in the online payment market to foster loyal customers for their platforms, South Korea’s major retailers are now attempting to make their payment solutions available through offline channels.
Gmarket’s Smile Pay is now available at Shinsegae Group’s offline stores after the company was acquired by discount retailer E-Mart Inc. in 2021.
Smile Pay, which became available at E-Mart Traders, Starbucks and Shinsegae Department Store last year, added E-Mart Everyday supermarkets to the list of its offline channels last month.
E-commerce firm 11Street Co.’s SK Pay also expanded its offline payment functions by teaming up with SK Telecom Co.’s T Membership in October last year.
SK Pay is now available at T Membership-affiliated bakery and restaurant chains.
In contrast, Coupang Inc. has limited the use of Coupay to its app.
The size of Coupay, however, is expanding along with an increase in Coupang’s transaction volume.
Sales processed through Coupang Pay, the operator of Coupay, reached 568.9 billion won (US$433 million) in 2021, a threefold jump from a year before.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
