11st Street opens site in Thailand

SK Planet is taking its e-commerce platform 11st Street to Thailand, the company said Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country will be SK Planet’s fourth global market after Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Under the local company name 11Street Thailand, the online shopping platform will start by offering 3 million items under eight categories, including fashion, home appliances and leisure, most of which will be from Thai retailers.

SK Planet said it will also bring its popular “Shocking Deal” service to Thailand. Each day, the company selects different items to be offered at a large discount. The service, which launched in Korea in 2014, has been receiving positive responses from online shoppers here, a company spokesman said.

SK Planet will also build two more of its “Seller Campuses” in Bangkok this year. It built the first location last year.

The campuses regularly host seminars for local retailers and provide tips on how to sell items on the e-commerce platform.

SK Planet said there are about 9,000 local sellers currently registered on 11Street Thailand.

“11st Street will be at the forefront of realizing the high potential of Thailand’s e-commerce market,” said Jeon Hong-cheol, chief executive of 11Street Thailand in a statement.

“Along with other Korean home shopping companies that have already advanced there, 11st Street is going to more actively target the Southeast Asian region.”

Thailand’s e-commerce industry is expected to grow at an average rate of 20 percent through 2020, expanding to 4.59 trillion won ($4.03 billion) from 1.81 trillion won in 2016.

Korean heartthrob actor Song Joon-ki will be 11st Street’s spokesmodel in Thailand.

SK Planet’s global operations have been performing well. In Turkey, it topped the local e-commerce market in terms of business volume last year, three years after it entered the country under the name Dogus Planet.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]