Shinsegae Group's Gmarket is moving to turn the tide. An ad campaign tapping into B-grade sensibilities is drawing buzz and appears to be translating into actual increases in transaction volume. In the retail industry, some say Gmarket is expanding its presence in the open market segment that had been dominated by Coupang and Naver Shopping.
According to the retail industry on the 21st, Gmarket's total gross merchandise value (GMV) in March rose 12% from a year earlier. The growth rate was only in the single digits in January–February, but the pace picked up in March.
Notably, "direct-visit GMV," in which consumers purchase by accessing the Gmarket app or website directly without going through a price-comparison site, also increased 13%. This is interpreted to mean more consumers are seeking out the brand itself beyond a simple lowest-price platform.
Analysts say the backdrop to the shift is a "Gmarket-style B-grade ad strategy." From September last year for about five months, Gmarket released 36 ads for "G Rock Fest (Jilleorak Festival)." "G Rock Fest" is Gmarket's regular discount event held from the 1st to the 3rd of every month, and the company chose a strategy of repeatedly imprinting the event on consumers by introducing a new ad model and discounted items each month. It featured familiar singers such as Park Wan-kyu, Kim Kyung-ho, Cherry Filter, Jaurim and H.O.T., introducing the discount event and products in a parody format.
Ads released ahead of the first-half shopping event "Big Smile Day" are also getting a good response. A representative example is a parody ad featuring actors Park Sung-woong and Jang Hyuk. Park Sung-woong parodies a character from the movie Shinsegae, introducing discounted products with lines like "Now that's some octopus to die for."
Jang Hyuk likewise kept the distinctive speech and expressions from the drama Chuno. He tweaks the in-show catchphrase "How nice" to fit discounted items, such as "Lots of roe, nice," "Clothes dry, nice," and "Massage chair, nice." By deliberately mixing exaggerated acting with a serious tone, it caught fire among younger consumers.
The retail industry believes Gmarket's steady investment in strengthening platform competitiveness, including logistics and securing sellers, is starting to pay off. Stronger delivery capabilities are a prime example. After partnering with CJ Logistics, delivery satisfaction has reportedly improved noticeably. There were considerable consumer complaints about delivery errors early on, but those complaints are said to have dropped sharply recently.
It is also focusing on the race to secure sellers. While Coupang is concentrating on helping U.S. sellers enter Korea and Korean sellers expand into Taiwan, Gmarket is actively encouraging seller expansion using Lazada, Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce platform. Lazada is also the company that James Chang, who now leads Gmarket, founded and later sold to Alibaba.
Some in the retail industry also say Gmarket is reaping some collateral gains as consumer favorability toward Coupang has wavered recently. With ads lifting brand favorability, reinforced competitiveness in logistics and sellers is lining up to drive an increase in transactions.
However, results are still in the red. Grand Opus Holdings (a Shinsegae Group–Alibaba Group joint venture), which includes Apollo Korea, the 100% equity holder of Gmarket, posted an operating loss of 119.9 billion won in the first quarter this year. The industry views the current widening losses as part of the growth investment process.
Gmarket last year set a goal of "doubling transaction volume within five years" and announced an annual investment plan of 700 billion won. The expanded first-quarter loss this year is explained as the result of higher investment expenses for logistics, marketing and securing sellers. Gmarket CEO James Chang earlier said, "In 2026–2027 we will focus on quantitative growth to climb to the No. 1 open market in Korea, and from 2028 we will move in earnest to generate revenue."
The retail industry is watching to see whether Gmarket can go beyond ad buzz to drive actual repeat purchases and secure loyal customers. A retail industry official said, "Lotte Group's e-commerce 'Lotte ON' has had such a difficult time that it carried out a second round of voluntary retirement after 2024, but we hear Gmarket is at least turning things around positively, so we are watching closely to see if it leads to real results."