Selling in South Korea through an e-commerce, possibilities and prospects

Did you know that in 2022 the Italian digital export has reached a value of 18.7 billion euros, with a growth of +20.3% compared to 2021, reaching a share equal to 8.8% of total Italian exports?

Also thanks to the pandemic, the digital transition has undoubtedly been accelerated: the possibility of selling online all over the world has been one of the main means of reducing the effects of the crisis.

And in this time marked by the e-commerce boom, they are increasingly establishing themselves markets aimed at South East Asia, especially the one represented by South Korea.

Selling in South Korea is today an opportunity with excellent prospects, mainly due to the strong digitization of the country. Just think that the percentage of population shopping online outnumbers 80%, and that this trend is constantly rising.

How then to conquer a slice of this market? We explain it in this article.

E-commerce to sell in South Korea, conveniences

The commercial sectors of maximum expansion in South Korea concern theclothing, i foodstuffs (like wine), the personal care and thefurniture.

South Korea is considered the litmus test to evaluate the strength of certain goods in the Asian continent: if the responses, in terms of sales, are positive in the Korean market, this could be the springboard for entry into other neighboring countries, such as Japan and China. In other words, testing a product in South Korea means obtaining a useful evaluation to decide whether or not to expand its expansion into other territories.

One of the main advantages of selling in this country is then the lack of export taxation from the European Union. For almost all types of goods, there are no customs fees but only the obligatory nature of a "declaration of origin", or the need to specify the "economic nationality" of the goods to be sold.

Italian products, conforming to the style of exclusivity still connected to Made in Italy, are highly sought after in South Korea. Therefore, an e-commerce that pays attention to the Korean market has excellent prospects of achieving good results even in the short term. 

A valid strategy may be to place the products to be sold and on dedicated e-commerce, either on a marketplace very widespread in South Korea as Gmarket, owned by Ebay. On Gmarket payments are managed directly by the sellers, who have to pay a commission on each purchase. 

In both cases it is strongly recommended to rely on of market experts in the country, to optimize the presence of the products to be sold. This includes ua digital communication strategy that knows how to underline the characteristics of the goods, based on the demand for goods in South Korea. This strategy should also include social media, channels for the large-scale diffusion of new brands.

South Korea, a constantly growing online market

South Korea is one among the most digitized countries in the world and among the most open to technological innovations. Despite its small size, its status as an export country continues to grow. Suffice it to say that it is the country with the fastest mobile network, elIts economy is the fourth largest in Asia.

Creating an e-commerce that sells in this nation means entering a prosperous market, especially on the digital front. In fact, in South Korea, online sales have surpassed traditional sales methods.

Sell in that country it is certainly an excellent opportunity, which can lead to considerably expanding your online business. But Korea is also a nation picky about online products, which must be of excellent quality and delivered quickly. As previously mentioned, it is therefore of fundamental importance to have a commercial partner who can identify the best strategies to optimize sales, based on the target audience.