Small business owners increased sales through transactions with TV home shopping and T-commerce, but a survey found that rising transaction expenses are becoming a burden.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises announced on the 17th the results of the "2025 TV home shopping and T-commerce transaction small business difficulty survey," conducted with 856 small business owners that transact with TV home shopping and T-commerce from Nov. 10, 2025, to Jan. 28, 2026.
More than 70% of responding companies said they were satisfied with the transactions. For TV home shopping, 72.5% said they were satisfied, and for T-commerce, 75.9% said they were satisfied. In addition, more than half said that sales increased year over year in 2024. The sales increase rates were 57.8% for TV home shopping and 60.1% for T-commerce.
However, the burden of transaction expenses appears to have grown. The share saying transaction expenses increased from a year earlier was 42.5% for TV home shopping and 42.3% for T-commerce. While home shopping has become a key sales channel for expanding revenue, rising expenses limit improvements in profitability.
The most common transaction method was "consignment and commissioned transactions after direct contracts with TV home shopping and T-commerce." That was followed by "consignment, commissioned, and special purchase under contracts with distribution vendors," "special purchase after direct contracts," and "direct purchase," in that order. Most companies engaged in consignment, commissioned, and special purchase transactions were subject to a flat-rate system, with application rates of 93.3% for TV home shopping and 99.0% for T-commerce.
The average commission rate was found at 29.6% for TV home shopping and 28.2% for T-commerce. The roughly 30% commission burden is cited as a factor making it difficult for small business owners to secure margins. The lowest average commission rates were at Public Home Shopping for TV home shopping and KT Shopping for T-commerce, and commission gaps were wide by product category.
Seven out of 10 responding companies expressed concern about TV transmission fee hikes. The share saying higher transmission fees affect rising transaction expenses was 71.8% for TV home shopping and 70.1% for T-commerce.
Small business owners said they would be highly willing to use a "T-commerce channel specialized for small business owners" if it is introduced. The most cited expected effect of introducing the channel was "cost savings such as lower sales commissions compared with existing T-commerce."
Responses saying there was no experience of unfair transactions were high, at 99.8% for TV home shopping and 99.5% for T-commerce. As future tasks for win-win cooperation, respondents said that "lowering commission rates," "expanding broadcast opportunities," and "strengthening marketing and publicity" are needed.
Kim Ki-moon, president of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, said, "TV home shopping and T-commerce are core sales channels for small business owners, but the burden of transaction expenses remains heavy due to increases in transmission fees," and added, "Policy support is needed to induce commission cuts through measures such as introducing a T-commerce channel specialized for small business owners."