South Korea's e-commerce market to reach $325 billion by 2025

According to data research firm ResearchAndMarkets , South Korea's e-commerce market is expected to reach US$325.12 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.92% from 2021 to 2025.

Last year, South Korea's e-commerce (e-commerce) market size ranked fifth in the world. According to data from the Global E-commerce Hotspot Report , South Korea's e-commerce sales last year were US$144.1 billion, ranking fifth in the world.

The Korean e-commerce market can be divided into fashion, food and beverages, home appliances, auto parts, daily necessities, cosmetics, computers, related equipment, sports, entertainment, and travel services, among others .

The fashion industry is the fastest growing category in the Korean e-commerce market . Korean consumers are increasingly relying on online purchases of clothing products , which provide a wider range of choices not available in physical stores and can easily access e-commerce , thereby increasing user convenience.

In addition, the sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus has led to a rapid transition of consumers from traditional distribution channels to online retailers, greatly expanding the popularity of e-commerce in South Korea , while also reducing the risk of contracting the coronavirus through human interaction. Even in the post-epidemic era, the overall Korean e-commerce market will continue to show a long-term growth trend .

As a developed country, South Korea’s increasing internet user penetration, the introduction of artificial intelligence in the retail industry, urbanization, the growing online advertising , and the increasing use of smartphones are all driving factors for the growing e - commerce market .

Among the major trends that the industry is most concerned about , the influence of social networking platforms is increasing, the growth of mobile payments is accelerating, and the adoption of advanced technologies is also increasing.

However, the growth of the e-commerce market will encounter different degrees of obstacles due to e-commerce fraud risks and incorrect return policies . Last year, the Korean e-commerce market grew by 19.5% compared to 2019, but the complaint rate against e-commerce also "rose with the tide." Importantly, among all complaints against online shopping, only 58.06% were corrected.

Faced with South Korea's rapidly growing e-commerce market, the E-Commerce Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in 2002, has fallen into the embarrassing situation of being unable to properly protect consumers in the rapidly changing e-commerce market.

The South Korean government has also begun to accelerate the pace of revising the bill, which will greatly reduce the occurrence of illegal activities such as fraud in the e-commerce market and provide a good market order for the expansion of the e-commerce market.

South Korea

market

E-commerce