SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Once the exclusive domain of department stores, the competition to court South Korea’s most coveted “VVIP” customers — very, very important patrons with deep pockets and high loyalty — is heating up in the online retail world. E-commerce companies, traditionally focused on price-sensitive shoppers, are now introducing tiered membership [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean mobility platform Socar said Sunday that membership for its vehicle delivery service, “Handler,” surpassed 200,000 in May, doubling in just two years as flexible, gig-based work gains traction among younger drivers. According to Socar, Handler’s total membership climbed from 100,000 in May 2023 to 130,000 in 2024, [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea surged to its highest level for any August on record, fueled by booming Tesla sales and growing appetite for food services, government data showed Wednesday. Total online transactions reached 22.48 trillion won (US$15.56 billion) in August, up 6.6 percent, or 1.39 trillion won, from [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s e-commerce sector is undergoing a sharp consolidation, with a winner-takes-all structure emerging as Coupang and Naver entrench their dominance. Smaller players are collapsing or being forced into alliances, while global challengers from China accelerate their advance. The collapse of mid-tier platforms Tmon and Wemakeprice last year, which [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Thursday conditionally approved a joint venture between Shinsegae Group’s Gmarket and Alibaba’s AliExpress Korea, clearing the way for a new challenger to disrupt a market long dominated by Coupang and Naver. The tie-up, structured as a 50:50 joint company under Grand Opus Holding, will [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group said Thursday its joint venture with Alibaba International has secured regulatory approval, clearing the way for a launch next month that could reshape the country’s online retail landscape. The 50:50 venture, greenlit by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, was approved after the companies [...]
SEOUL· SEJONG, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — AliExpress, the Chinese e-commerce platform, has been hit with a multimillion-dollar penalty in South Korea for misleading customers with inflated discount claims on thousands of products. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Sunday it imposed corrective orders and fines totaling 20.93 billion won ($15.5 million) after finding that [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — CJ OnStyle announced Sunday that it will launch a new mobile live commerce broadcast infused with artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR), positioning immersive video content as a differentiator in an increasingly crowded e-commerce market. The first installment, airing August 24, will spotlight the popular women’s underwear brand [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – More than half of South Korean consumers who unknowingly purchase counterfeit goods online do not seek refunds, citing complicated procedures and small amounts of money at stake, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Korea Consumer Agency. The survey, conducted among 1,000 consumers across eight major platforms — [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. said Tuesday it has decided to fully acquire Spanish online marketplace Wallapop as part of a broader strategy to expand its social commerce business overseas. Naver will invest 604.5 billion won (US$435.2 million) to acquire an additional 70.5 percent stake in the Spanish [...]