Dreaming of a Modern-Day 'Geosang'... Lotte ON Welcomes 12,000 Sellers in One Month

Online-Offline Linked Shopping Mall 'Lotte On'
Growing Interest on YouTube for Store Entry Methods
Seller Support Team Operates Services
Sharing Marketing and Sales Know-How

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Since its launch at the end of April, Lotte Group's integrated online-offline linked shopping mall 'Lotte On' has been attracting a flood of small and medium-sized partner companies. This is thanks to its appeal to both professional sellers and novice sellers dreaming of becoming modern-day 'geosang' (merchant kings).

The Choice of 12,000 Sellers: 'Lotte On'

According to the distribution industry on the 15th, as of the end of May, 12,250 partner companies had joined the open market within Lotte On. Despite being in a stabilization period since its opening on April 28, partner companies gathered within a month. On YouTube channels, video content such as 'How to Join Lotte On,' 'Lotte On User Reviews,' and 'An Opportunity for Beginner Sellers' created by major players in the e-shopping industry also recorded high view counts. It is interpreted that a kind of 'unwritten rule' commonly accepted in the online shopping mall industry, where early entry increases the likelihood of becoming a top seller, also had an influence.

Lotte On is also putting effort into coexistence with sellers. A representative measure is the Seller Support Team within Lotte e-Commerce, which operates Lotte On. Their main task is to consider how to best support partner companies. Recently, they allocated 3 billion KRW as an exclusive advertising budget for sellers. The budget was used for providing trial advertising money that partner companies who completed joining by May could use to run ads on Lotte On.

This month, they will also produce video content for beginner sellers in collaboration with the Lotte On Sales Support Center. Instead of rote learning, a 'true' expert, as described in current seller slang, who is a former seller will appear in the videos to share sales know-how such as 'keyword marketing.' They have set an internal goal of uploading 7 to 8 videos per quarter.

Differentiation Point: 'Managed Open Market'

The main point that differentiates Lotte On from general open markets is that it is a 'managed' open market. Sellers are managed based on the self-developed 'On Pick' index, which distinguishes it from existing open markets. This is a measure to alleviate consumers' anxiety when purchasing items from open markets. It targets a niche market by resolving the frustration of consumers who felt dissatisfaction with quality or service different from the photos after receiving products. To this end, Lotte On sets standards for sellers and applies the On Pick index, adjusting exposure rankings according to the reflected index. The sales commission is also maintained at the industry average level. For large e-commerce companies in the form of open markets, it is known to be in the 10% range.

They have also lowered the entry barrier by increasing the types of mandatory certificates for joining, which had been a source of seller complaints. Previously, only business-use public certificates were accepted, but now it has been expanded to allow joining with the more affordable Lotte On exclusive public certificate. The issuance fee for the former was 110,000 KRW, while the latter is reduced to 10,000 KRW. This makes it easier for beginner sellers to challenge without burden. Regarding this, Kwon Hae-won, head of the Lotte On Seller Support Team, said, "Many sellers are new to both Lotte On and selling. We will listen to partner needs and grow together."

'The Urgency to Enter e-Commerce'

Lotte, a strong offline player, feels threatened by Shinsegae Group's SSG.com, Coupang, Market Kurly, and others in the e-commerce era. There is also a widespread sense of crisis that if Lotte On fails to settle in the market, a downturn across the entire shopping business could intensify. On the 27th, the day before Lotte On's launch, Cho Young-je, head of Lotte Shopping's e-commerce division, stated, "We plan to grow Lotte Group's total online sales, currently at 11 trillion KRW, to 20 trillion KRW by 2023."

Despite being Lotte Group's ambitious project as the largest domestic shopping platform, there were many initial issues. From the first day it was unveiled, traffic surged, causing the app to open about two hours late. The search function was also problematic. The AI-powered search engine was sensitive to minor errors in product data, which were not detected during pre-testing. Sharp criticism from customers poured in.

The crisis became an opportunity. Active responses to initial errors led the service into a stabilization phase. A Lotte On official explained, "Far more customers than expected showed interest in Lotte On, and their detailed and specific feedback was very helpful in the improvement process. We devoted the entire month of May to improvements and stabilization."

Visitor numbers are also recovering. Since the second week of May, Lotte On's visitor count has increased weekly. Looking at the trend from May 26 to June 1, traffic improved by up to 13% compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, it is analyzed that by the end of June, there will be a significant growth compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.