The market size will reach 9 trillion won! Live streaming of Korean e-commerce may become mainstream

As the coronavirus spreads , " livestreaming " -- transactions based on real-time online broadcasts -- has become a trend in South Korea for non-face-to-face shopping, and retailers are aggressively expanding their services.

According to industry sources on the 28th , 11 Treet CEO Lee Sang-ho announced at the shareholders' meeting of its parent company SK Telecom on the 25th that an open trading infrastructure will be built in the second half of this year.

Since last year, 11st has been producing its own cultural information under the name "Live 11" and conducting real-time commercial transactions, and from the second half of this year it will expand the adaptation to allow general merchandisers to participate.

In addition, 11st also plans to expand the content of the recently established "Entertainment Live Business" column.

Coupang launched "Coupang Live" earlier this year as an open service , allowing ordinary people to sell goods directly through live broadcasts as long as they go through a registration process.

Currently, the trial is limited to beauty products, but it is expected that the product range will be further expanded in the future.

Last year, Timon also opened “Timon Select,” which allows sellers to live stream as private broadcasts . Since 2017, the company has been offering live streaming services on its own live commerce channel, “ TV   on ” and expanded upon it .

In recent years, Tmon has expanded its product range by establishing "Timon Home Live", which involves " TV   on ” office phone sales and other residential products.

TV shopping companies, which are most similar to the "live commerce" format, also put the " host " first and devote themselves to "live commerce". Cosmetics and fashion companies also run their own live commerce and invest in cultivating influential people and producing content.

Online platform companies such as Naver and Kakao have already taken a step ahead of the distribution industry, entered the live broadcast trading market, and are actively providing services.

Naver's real-time e-commerce " Shopping Live " has accumulated 100 million views as of the end of last year and is regarded as a new shopping channel.

Kakao Commerce also recently launched “ Kakao Shopping Live ” at the top of the shopping tab , and the number of broadcasts has increased from 1-2 times a day to more than 5 times .

In a commentary submitted to the Shinsegae Group Newsroom last month, an investment and securities analyst predicted that the live commerce market , which was estimated to be 3 trillion won last year, could reach 9 trillion won by 2023.

The distribution industry predicts , “The lifestyle commerce market is growing further and may replace TV shopping in the long run.”

An industry insider said : "The handling fee for TV shopping is very high, so small and medium-sized merchants prefer on-site shopping . Being able to get immediate feedback from consumers is also one of the reasons for their preference. "

Another online shopping insider said : "When the same product is sold through live transactions, it is more popular. The sales method of introducing products through one-on-one communication seems to be more suitable for consumers . "

South Korea

live streaming

E-commerce