Exporting SMEs Target Global Market with Live Commerce and Online Special Sales Events

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Q4 Online Export Support Key Projects
Supporting Online Overseas Market Expansion for Exporting SMEs... 6.7 Billion KRW Sales Achieved During Guanggunje and Ssangshipije

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 17th that the global live commerce and online special sales event for export-oriented small and medium enterprises, held to capitalize on the year-end shopping season, is achieving results far exceeding expectations. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] It has been revealed that various global online shopping mall market expansions by domestic export small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have achieved significant results.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 17th that the global live commerce and online special sales events for export SMEs, held during the year-end shopping season, have exceeded expectations in terms of performance.

Through events planned as key online export support projects in the fourth quarter, the Ministry utilized large-scale shopping events concentrated at year-end in various countries to support the expansion of overseas online sales channels for export SMEs.

Centered on China, where live commerce is well-developed, event support was provided during shopping festivals such as Guanggunjie (November 11) and Shuangshierjie (December 12), with plans to expand to the U.S., New Southern Market, Japan, and others through the end of the year.

A total of 10 live commerce sessions?8 held in November and 2 in December?participated by about 100 companies including Brand K enterprises, product planners (MDs) from various online shopping malls, and companies selected from existing export support projects, recorded total sales of 6.69 billion KRW.

Including online sales conducted before and after the live sales and special sales events held on various online malls, sales reached 2.77 billion KRW, bringing the total monthly sales to approximately 9.5 billion KRW, marking significant achievements.

In particular, when utilizing local famous influencers with over 7 million followers, some products sold out all prepared inventory within 10 minutes of the broadcast, and cumulative sales reached 500 million KRW within just one hour of the broadcast start, receiving great responses.

Three Damo, a hair product specialist company that participated in the November Guanggunjie live commerce for the first time, is a new export company that entered China earlier this year. On the day of the live sale, it generated sales of 15 million KRW, achieving 15% of its previous year’s total sales of 100 million KRW in just one day.

‘Gwangcheon Woori Mat Gim’ products, which participated in the live commerce event during the December Shuangshierjie, sold out 90,000 prepared packages instantly, recording sales of 60 million KRW and ending the broadcast early.

This live commerce and online special exhibition were planned based on cooperative relationships with major online shopping malls in each country. A notable feature was the use of country-specific influencers for live commerce.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to actively support promising SMEs’ overseas online expansion through various promotions until the end of the year, including category-specific K-planned exhibitions linked with events such as the ‘Christmas Market’.

Shim Jaeyoon, Director of the Global Growth Policy Division at the Ministry, said, “This event, prepared to help SMEs struggling with overseas expansion due to COVID-19 by pioneering online and non-face-to-face overseas sales channels, received a warmer response than expected. We will continue to actively support our SMEs’ overseas expansion by utilizing new marketing methods such as live commerce in line with global non-face-to-face consumption trends.”

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