AliExpress seeks to win over half of all Korean e-shoppers with marketing push

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AliExpress seeks to win over half of all Korean e-shoppers with marketing push

Published: 10 Sep. 2024, 17:15

AliExpress Korea CEO Ray Zhang gives a briefing on the company's future business plans in the country at Alibaba Group's headquarters on Sept. 3. [ALIEXPRESS]

Alibaba Group's AliExpress said Tuesday that it will step up marketing campaigns in Korea with the aim of securing more than half of online shopping platform users in the country within three to five years.

In a press conference held in Hangzhou, AliExpress Korea CEO Ray Zhang announced the target for the Korean market, currently dominated by local e-commerce giant Coupang.

The Chinese e-commerce retail platform has aggressively promoted about 150 million products at competitive prices since last year in a bid to claim a bigger share of the Korean e-commerce market.

As of August, AliExpress ranked third in terms of the number of monthly active users with 6.69 million, following Coupang's 13.38 million and 11Street's 7.68 million.

Given the roughly 34 million e-commerce users in the country, AliExpress is aiming to attract 17 million in the next several years through marketing and facility investments, a company spokesperson told a local media outlet.

AliExpress said it will be able to announce detailed plans for its logistics center in Korea in the first half of next year.

"We will join hands with a Korean company to build a logistics center equipped with advanced smart technologies," the CEO said.

In October, AliExpress launched the K-Venue marketplace to allow small and medium-sized Korean firms to sell home appliances, food and beverages, and other daily necessities.

The companies are exempted from paying a commission to AliExpress until December for "mutual growth," the Chinese platform said.

In recent years, Chinese e-commerce platforms, including PDD Holdings' Temu and AliExpress, have been aggressive in their marketing to woo customers in Korea away from bigger local rivals.

Yonhap