Retail partnerships with Korea’s biggest online retailers are thriving as more top names flock to eBay’s Gmarket and IAC to list their full product ranges.
The retail partnership side of Korea’s business is growing year-on-year by almost 50 percent, with 27 of Korea’s 30 biggest online retailers now listing on eBay Korea. The catalyst was a groundbreaking deal signed with one of the country’s largest retailers, Lotte, in 2012, says Brian Byun, eBay Korea’s Country Manager.
“When Lotte started listing with us, things really started to change,” said Byun. “The company owns department stores, leisure complexes and grocery stores nationwide and we now carry their entire product list on our site. This year alone, 25 percent of Lotte’s online sales will come via eBay.”
What’s the secret behind this partnership success? eBay’s position as the leading Korean eCommerce site was clearly a major attraction for the larger retailers who wanted to take advantage of the country’s biggest online customer base as well as eBay’s mobile platform.
Customers are big winners, too. They no longer have to shop around, as all of Korea’s big store names are in one place. The days of remembering multiple passwords and entering payment details on different sites are over. Plus shoppers get a superior mobile shopping experience – important for a country with high smartphone penetration.
With retail partners’ percentage of GMV expected to climb even more by the end of the year, Byun now has big plans to grow this side of the business.
“We want to integrate our back-end systems with those of our retailers to make the whole process even smoother,” he said.
“We also want to drive traffic to our partners’ physical stores by offering shoppers discount vouchers, and break into the fresh food market, where customers can buy groceries on eBay Korea and have them home-delivered.”