"Content must become the store. It is an era that requires innovation across the entire funnel—where purchases happen directly from content."
Seong Dong-hun, Deputy Minister of the CJ ENM commerce division's platform unit, said this in a lecture titled "Discovery shopping, captured with content commerce" at the 2026 ChosunBiz Consumer and Retail Forum held at the Westin Josun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 16th. As the way consumers encounter and buy products changes quickly, the sales strategies of distribution corporations and brands must also change, he said.
Seong noted that discovery shopping—in which consumers encounter products while consuming content and proceed to purchase—is growing in influence in the e-commerce market.
He said, "Customers are already obtaining product information through social media (SNS)," and "they are shifting from text-centered experiences to image- and video-centered ways of experiencing products." In the past, consumers searched for desired products on portals or shopping platforms and then purchased them; now, he explained, cases are increasing in which they discover and buy products through content such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Seong went on, "Customers already recognize brands across countless touchpoints and experience a journey that leads to purchase," adding, "The existing marketing funnel that moves from awareness to exploration, inflow and conversion is no longer valid." He added, "What matters now is not fighting to improve ad efficiency but designing the customer journey."
In particular, Seong emphasized that corporations must devise strategies suited to discovery shopping in line with these changes. He said, "Even platforms and brands that pursue purpose-driven shopping—where consumers decide on a specific product, search and purchase—need an approach like discovery shopping when launching new products."
To that end, CJ OnStyle is pushing a strategy to make content itself the store. Rather than simply introducing products, it creates content from sellers' and influencers' expertise and lifestyles to build touchpoints with consumers. Representative examples include product introductions within actor Yoo In-na's skin care routine and singer Brian's curation of cleaning and organizing products. Seong said, "Anyone can simply introduce products, but this is an era when content IP that combines the lifestyle of people with aspirational appeal and expertise with products has become important."
CJ OnStyle also repackages hourlong live broadcasts into short-form content and distributes them across platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Seong said, "Content must go directly to where customers are," adding, "We are currently producing about 1,000 short forms a month. In the long term, the goal is to expand to 10,000 a month."
In this process, strategies to use artificial intelligence (AI) were also mentioned. Seong said, "You must first decide what goal you will use AI to achieve," adding, "We analyze, across hundreds of factors, which short forms are chosen by customers, and we are building an automated system for partitioning hourlong videos into short forms."
He added, "In the AI era, customer needs are changing quickly," and "distribution corporations and brands must innovate by experimenting small with AI and validating fast."