Gmarket's large-scale investment strategy released last year is producing results, leading to improvements in key management indicators such as gross merchandise volume.
Gmarket said on the 9th that its first-half gross merchandise volume (GMV) turned to year-over-year growth for the first time in four years. The company said that after implementing investments last year aimed at "doubling GMV in five years" for customers and sellers, GMV, customer purchasing power, seller competitiveness, and the global business all grew together.
In particular, GMV on the Gmarket site, where investments were concentrated, rose 14% in the first half from a year earlier, driving overall growth. Building on the first quarter, GMV continued to increase in the second quarter as well, achieving a first-half rebound with positive growth.
Key customer metrics also improved. The average monthly order value per customer increased 12% from a year earlier. Direct-visit transaction volume, rather than via external channels such as price comparison sites, rose 5%. The purchase conversion rate climbed 14%, strengthening the platform's competitiveness centered on loyal customers, according to assessments.
The seller ecosystem also showed signs of recovery. As of the 1st of this month, Gmarket had 660,000 sellers, up 5% from a year earlier, and the number of revenue-focused sellers with monthly sales of 50 million won or more increased 6%. The company attributed the results to investment policies worth 500 billion won annually, including fully covering the expense of large promotion coupons and abolishing fees on seller discount coupons.
The global cross-border export business, which launched last year, is also growing. First-half GMV more than doubled from the second half of last year. Currently, about 17,000 sellers are participating, selling 30 million products in the Southeast Asian market.
Gmarket will continue strategic investments in the second half. It will revamp its fee policy for sellers in the third quarter and, starting next month, introduce free returns for Star Delivery items for members of the "Kkok" membership program. It also plans to roll out AI-based hyper-personalized product search and recommendation features in the second half.
Chief Executive Officer James Jang of Gmarket said, "The first half of this year was a period when we led a rebound in GMV through strategic investments and confirmed the potential of our mid- to long-term growth strategy as customers, sellers, and the global business grew together," adding, "We will continue to focus on investments needed by customers and sellers rather than on short-term results to strengthen our future competitiveness."