South Korea B2C E-Commerce Market and Top Mobile Payment Service Providers 2021

South Korea B2C E-Commerce Market and Top Mobile Payment Service Providers 2021

Spread of COVID-19 brings growth in mobile payments in South Korea Says yStat

A new report from Hamburg-based market research company yStats.com, “South Korea B2C E-Commerce Market and Mobile Payment Service Providers 2021” provides details on the acceleration of B2C E-Commerce market and increase of users of mobile payment services in the country. Among the findings in the report is the effect of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic on the reaction of top mobile payment service providers in South Korea.

Asian B2C E-Commerce market continued accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

The B2C E-Commerce market in Asia saw significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic and was expected to continue its lead over other world regions. China maintains its role as a regional and global leader in the share of total retail sales attributed to online commerce. Moreover, as a result of consumers’ shopping behavior shift towards online purchasing, numerous E-Commerce platforms generated considerable revenue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were several major players in the online market, Amazon, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Shopee, Lazada were among them. These platforms had a significant number of sales, a high inflow of new consumers and an increased number of visits over the last 6 months of 2020. Besides, to contribute to the development of online retail, some companies received investments and, thus, increased their value on the market. Many E-Commerce platforms also increased their cross-border selling, by operating abroad and introducing foreign retailers to their platform.

South Korean accelerating Internet penetration and smartphone adoption impacted an increase in the B2C E-Commerce market in 2020

Despite an estimated rise in 2020, the annual growth rate of B2C E-Commerce value in South Korea was projected to decline by 2024. However, due to the acceleration of Internet penetration and smartphone adoption in South Korea, an increase in the B2C E-Commerce market in 2020 occurred. It is also worth mentioning that South Korean online retail sector “food products” saw the highest year-on-year growth, followed by “household goods”. Furthermore, one of the South Korean E-Commerce giants Coupang keeps dominating in its market. Whereas, another big player in South Korea, Amazon intended to invest USD 300 million (EUR 263 million) in the E-Commerce platform 11Street in 2020 amid COVID-19. As for one more major digital commerce platform eBay, it was planning to sell its South Korean marketplace.

More consumers in South Korea have started making payments via the top mobile payment service provider platforms, during the COVID-19 health crisis

Other interesting facts highlighted in the yStats.com report include the number of users registered with the top three payment service providers in South Korea: KakaoPay, Naver pay and Toss. This report also highlights the rising number of user registrations received by KakaoPay during the pandemic. Furthermore, the yStats.com study includes details of the payment innovations introduced by the top mobile payment service providers during the COVID-19 outbreak.