eBay Acquired by Shinsegae, Securing 'Skilled IT Developers' as Major Achievement

eBay Korea Acquired for 3.44 Trillion Won... Surpasses Coupang to Become Industry No. 2
Secures Over 400 eBay Developers... Totaling Around 700 When Combined with SSG.com
Absorbs 20 Years of Data and Technology... Rapidly Emerging as a Leader in E-Commerce

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Shinsegae Group's Emart has finalized the acquisition of eBay Korea for 3.44 trillion KRW, causing significant upheaval in the domestic e-commerce market. For Shinsegae, which had been aiming to expand its online business through its integrated online mall SSG.com, acquiring eBay Korea means instantly securing the vast data, technological capabilities, and IT development personnel accumulated by eBay Korea over the past 20 years in the domestic market, positioning it to rapidly emerge as a leading player in e-commerce.

Key Acquisition Achievement: Securing Excellent Developers

According to industry sources on the 25th, Emart will add approximately 400 IT development personnel through the acquisition of eBay Korea. Including the existing development staff at SSG.com, the total will be about 700, and when combining the personnel each company is currently hiring, it is expected to secure around 1,000 developers within the year. Although this number is less than competitor Coupang (about 2,500), it significantly surpasses Lotte ON (about 500) and Market Kurly (about 100). Particularly, eBay Korea’s developers, who entered the domestic market in 2000 during the early stages of the Korean e-commerce industry, are highly regarded for their experience and proficiency.

Within eBay Korea, the acquisition by Emart is also welcomed. Park Juman, eBay Asia-Pacific General Manager, stated in an internal email, "I have repeatedly heard that one of the main purposes of Emart’s acquisition of eBay Korea is to secure our excellent e-commerce human resources," adding, "Emart is a company that can greatly support your growth."

Shinsegae also evaluated, "Amid fierce competition to secure domestic IT experts, acquiring eBay’s skilled IT professionals will accelerate the scale and growth speed of our online business."

Not only IT developers but also human resource strengthening is expected across all fields specialized in online business, including product planners (MDs), development, planning, and sales. The vast big data accumulated by eBay Korea over more than 20 years of operation is also anticipated to become a key competitive advantage in the future. A Shinsegae official said, "We will firmly establish a comprehensive platform covering everything from grocery shopping to lifestyle categories and secure price competitiveness through integrated purchasing," adding, "We will maximize synergy by combining the offline operational know-how and logistics capabilities accumulated as the top domestic distribution company with eBay Korea."

Surpassing Coupang to Instantly Become No. 2

SSG.com was only ranked within the top 10 in the e-commerce industry last year, but through the acquisition of eBay Korea, it has secured the second position. The combined transaction volume is approximately 24 trillion KRW, with a market share of 14.8%. Although it falls slightly short of the industry leader Naver, it surpasses third-ranked Coupang (22 trillion KRW) and significantly widens the gap with Lotte Shopping (7.6 trillion KRW), which had competed for the acquisition of eBay Korea.

Immediately after the acquisition was confirmed, Shinsegae Group emphasized, "This acquisition is not simply about buying a company but about buying time and opportunity."

Additional investment remains a challenge. Considering that the e-commerce environment after COVID-19 is being reorganized from open markets to dawn delivery companies with direct purchasing structures, both SSG.com and eBay Korea need to break away from past operational methods and find new competitiveness. Especially given the increased scale, large-scale additional investment is inevitable to implement differentiated logistics services.

Earlier, when Lotte Shopping gave up on acquiring eBay Korea, it explained, "Considering the investment cost and required time, we judged that synergy realization would be more difficult than initially expected when starting the review," which can be interpreted in this context.

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