Online shopping hits record transaction volume but growth slows to 4.9%

Sellers on K-Venue find new customer base as growth breakthrough

Promotions, traffic create virtuous cycle as platform support emerges as new driver

[Provided by AliExpress]
[Provided by AliExpress]

As South Korea's online shopping market enters a mature phase, competition among e-commerce sellers to secure new demand is intensifying. With a growing number of sellers searching for channels that do not overlap with their existing customer base, platform support systems have emerged as a key competitive differentiator.

Annual online shopping transactions in South Korea reached a record 272.04 trillion won ($176 billion) in 2025, according to the Ministry of Statistics. Yet growth slowed to just 4.9 percent year-on-year — the lowest increase on record. A Visa survey found that 77 percent of South Korean consumers shop online at least two to three times a month, the highest frequency among high-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Some sellers are turning to overseas-based platforms for a way forward. Estimated payment volumes across three major cross-border shopping platforms rose 15.1 percent year-on-year from January through April this year, according to WiseApp Retail data. AliExpress recorded an average spend per user of 407,000 won.

Sellers on AliExpress's K-Venue have been particularly effective at generating new demand. The monthly average gross merchandise value for lifestyle brand For You Company rose 127 percent last year compared with the previous year. "Generating meaningful sales on major platforms required substantial marketing spending and a long time to build up," said Jang Dong-won, chief executive of For You Company. "The ability to reach a new customer base became an important factor in our decision to join K-Venue."

Eungeon Korea, which joined K-Venue from its early days, has consistently recorded monthly sales of at least 20 million won. "We are moving away from a revenue structure concentrated in a single channel and building a more stable sales flow," said Lee Seung-won, chief executive of Eungeon Korea. "The fact that additional sales were generated without any decline in existing channel revenue makes this particularly meaningful."

Behind the growth is a marketing and promotional support system led by the platform itself. Eungeon Korea participated in events such as the "100 Billion Festa" campaign, expanding traffic and order volumes while raising brand awareness through increased exposure. For You Company similarly achieved the top sales ranking among all its listed channels through K-Venue's own traffic and promotions alone, without spending heavily on external advertising.

South Korea's overall retail market is expected to grow just 0.6 percent this year — the slowest pace in five years — while the online shopping segment is forecast to expand by only 3.2 percent, according to a 2026 retail industry outlook survey released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Industry observers say that going forward, platform competitiveness will hinge less on sheer user numbers and more on how effectively platforms drive new customer acquisition and purchase conversion.

"It is not enough to simply provide a sales channel — what matters is creating selling opportunities," Jang said. "As the e-commerce market matures, that kind of platform competitiveness will only become more important."


spa@heraldcorp.com