Seoul City Supports Small Business Digital Transformation... Up to 20% Discount on Products at 6 Online Malls

Discount Sales of 20,000 Small Business Products Including Clothing, Stationery, and Interior on Shopping Platforms like Coupang, Gmarket, Auction, Lotte ON, WEMAKEPRICE, and TMON for 3 Weeks Until the 18th
Special Planning Zones Operated by Each Platform

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has prepared an online special exhibition that helps small business owners in Seoul with high growth potential to enter the online market by reflecting consumer trends, and allows consumers to purchase excellent small business products at discounted prices.

On the 1st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will hold Super Seoul Week, offering up to 20% discounts on small business products at six major domestic online shopping malls for three weeks until the 18th.

This online special exhibition is simultaneously held on six major domestic shopping platforms: Coupang, Gmarket, Auction, Lotte ON, Wemakeprice, and TMON. About 20,000 small business owners are participating in this event, selling various products such as food, stationery, home interior, fashion clothing, kitchenware, and health supplements at affordable prices (up to 20%, maximum 10,000 KRW discount).

Now in its third year, the online special exhibition aims to provide small business owners who do not have their own online shopping malls or have not secured online sales channels with opportunities to enter large domestic online shopping malls, thereby offering opportunities to promote their products to consumers and providing practical support such as increased sales.

In fact, in the first year of the event in 2020, sales reached 17.3 billion KRW, and last year it increased about 1.7 times to 29.8 billion KRW. Also, 8 out of 10 participating small business companies expressed their intention to participate again, showing high satisfaction. It was also evaluated that the promotional effects through discount coupon issuance and advertising helped strengthen their self-sustainability.

Meanwhile, in addition to holding such special exhibitions, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is also promoting a customized ‘Small Business Online Sales Channel Development Support Project’ to strengthen the digital capabilities of promising small business owners and support their stable entry into the online market.

This year, 1,000 companies are selected to receive various support such as product planning, expert on-site diagnosis and consulting, production of detailed pages for online use and live commerce broadcasts, and MD consultation meetings. In December, a separate online special exhibition will be held to showcase products from small business owners who have received support so far.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government added that next year, it plans to select about 1,100 companies with growth potential to provide various support such as product development, customized marketing capability enhancement, and online entry opportunities to help small business owners settle early in the online market.

Kang Nam-tae, head of the Small Business Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “As non-face-to-face consumption becomes the trend, the demand for supporting the digital transformation of small business owners is increasing,” and added, “We will systematically support from the basics for online market entry to actual shopping mall entry to help stable operation and sales increase.”

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