This photo taken July 8, 2024, shows Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein’s pop-up store in Seongsu, Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s e-commerce market is growing at a fast pace and is expected to grow 10.2 percent on-year to surpass 164 trillion won (US$118 billion) this year, a global market research firm said Wednesday.
The Korean e-commerce market is set to reach 164.3 trillion won in 2024, up from 149.1 trillion won a year earlier, London-based GlobalData said in a statement.
“South Korea boasts of a robust e-commerce market supported by high-speed internet infrastructure, secure online payment options and a growing trust among the consumers in the realm of online shopping. Events such as Black Friday have supported the growth of e-commerce,” said Ravi Sharma, a lead banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.
To capitalize on robust local e-commerce demand, multinational firms are increasingly venturing into Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, the data firm said.
For instance, Chinese online fast-fashion giant Shein launched its Korea-dedicated online platform in June 2024, and in June 2023, YouTube launched its inaugural online shopping channel, where products are live streamed in the Korean language.
The frequency of shopping online is high among Korean consumers with 79 percent indicating they bought something online in the past month, while only 6 percent have never shopped online, the statement said.
“South Korea’s e-commerce market looks promising supported by the growing consumer preference for online channels, improving payment infrastructure, proliferation of alternative payment solutions,” Sharma said.
GlobalData forecast the Korean e-commerce market to register an average annual growth of 7.8 percent between 2024 and 2028 to reach 222.1 trillion won in 2028.
(Yonhap)
