SEOUL, March 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver has officially entered South Korea’s e-commerce arena with a dedicated shopping app, sparking industry speculation about whether it can effectively challenge Coupang’s market leadership. The tech giant unveiled its Naver Plus Store app on March 12, marking its formal transition into an open market platform operator. While industry experts acknowledge [...]
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has designated May 29 as “Medical Device Day” and September 7 as “Cosmetics Day” as part of broader legislative reforms aimed at strengthening industry oversight and public awareness. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on Thursday that the National Assembly passed amendments to six laws, [...]
SEOUL, March 11 (Korea Bizwire) — “Don’t suffer in silence anymore. Take revenge on those who have wronged you,” reads the product description for a straw doll on a popular South Korean e-commerce platform. These modern interpretations of traditional voodoo dolls, priced at around 10,000 won each, are being marketed as stress-relief tools for dealing with workplace [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s e-commerce market is entering a new phase of competition as major players escalate their efforts to enhance delivery services, aiming to challenge Coupang’s dominance in logistics. With next-day delivery now an industry standard, retailers are racing to expand same-day shipping to differentiate themselves and meet rising consumer [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite a sluggish consumer economy, Coupang Inc. achieved a major milestone in 2024, surpassing 41 trillion won (approximately $29 billion) in annual revenue. The e-commerce giant, founded in 2010 with just 3 billion won ($2.1 million) in capital, has cemented its position as South Korea’s dominant online retailer. Coupang’s success [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has increased the scope of data required from its South Korean users to include addresses, phone numbers and customs codes, its new policy showed Friday. The updated privacy terms, which go into effect the same day, also require users to agree to transferring their data [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has been stepping up its preparations to directly enter the South Korean market since late last year, an industry source said Monday. PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu is in the process of hiring Korean employees for human resources, administration, public relations, marketing and logistics functions, an [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s e-commerce giants are increasingly venturing into the luxury goods market, seeking new revenue streams amid a slowdown in industry growth over the past few years. According to industry sources, online retailer Kurly launched a luxury shopping platform in December 2024, offering 990 products from over 30 high-end brands, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s e-commerce sector saw a challenging 2024, with economic pressures leading to reduced consumer spending across platforms. Despite these headwinds and competition from Chinese e-commerce players like AliExpress and Temu, Coupang and SSG.com maintained strong customer loyalty, according to data released on January 26 by analytics firm IGAWorks. SSG.com [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Members of South Korea’s National Assembly sharply criticized Coupang Inc.’s founder Kim Bom-suk for his absence from a parliamentary hearing on January 21 focused on improving working conditions for the e-commerce giant’s delivery workers, particularly regarding late-night labor practices. The hearing, held by the Environment and Labor Committee, was attended [...]