Sales items of Chinese e-commerce (e-commerce) platforms that have entered Korea are spreading in all directions. Companies such as AliExpress and Temu, which drew attention mainly to ultra-cheap industrial products, are now expanding their territory to fashion, fresh food, and home appliances. Experts warned, "As C-commerce companies' sales items expand to virtually all fields, a full-fledged confrontation with Coupang and Naver is expected in Korea."

On the 31st, Ali announced that the total transaction value (GMV) of sellers (sellers) in March increased by 152% compared to the previous month. As part of the "328 Promotion" recently held to mark the 15th anniversary of its foundation, it held discount events such as "the ultra-low-priced discount exhibition for 100 brands" and "the return 1,000 won deal." The 1,000 won deal is a discount event that was popular when Ali introduced it during the "100 billion Festa" in March last year. It is a method of selling popular domestic and foreign brand products for 1,000 won in a limited quantity on a first-come, first-served basis. As a result of such a large discount event, the △ computer and office △ food △ home appliances △ electronic devices △ beauty and health products ranked at the top of the sales list in Ali. In the early days of entering the domestic market, Ali is hundredsAlthough the number of users has increased significantly as it has attracted attention as a low-cost industrial product in the range of several thousand won, it is now expanding its scope to a product group with relatively high unit prices and stable purchasing groups.

A representative example is the "auto" category, which was newly released in early March. During the 328 promotion period, the average daily sales of the auto product line increased by 173 percent from just before the event. The recently released 'Ali Express Shinhan Card' is also popular. If you shop at Ali with this card, you will receive a 10% regular discount, and if you purchase more than 50,000 won by April, you will receive an additional 20,000 won cashback benefit.

According to WiseApp and Retail, Ali and Temu are solidifying their second and third positions in the number of monthly active users among domestic malls. The number of Ali users grew rapidly from 3.35 million (7th) in January 2023 to 7.17 million (3rd) in the following year and 9.12 million in January this year. Temu also saw its number of users rise to around 8 million.

Ali is also increasing the proportion of fashion and fresh foods. Fashion sales sold in February at K Venue, a domestic seller's specialist, rose 38 times vertically compared to the same month last year. During the same period, the number of sellers entering private businesses also increased by 180%.

Alibaba Group recently invested KRW 100 billion in domestic shopping platform ABL. Accordingly, ABL Corporation, which operates ABL, appointed Ray Jang, CEO of AliExpress Korea, as other non-executive directors who are registered executives. This is why Ali is expected to be directly involved in Ably's management.

Lee Jong-woo, a business professor at Ajou University, said, "As Ali and Temu are targeting the domestic market in earnest, they are using a method of greatly increasing their price competitiveness to catch up with existing leaders Coupang and Naver. Other domestic platforms that are behind in delivery power or price competitiveness are at risk of being eroded by C-commerce." Unlike Coupang, which uses rocket delivery, and Naver, which enhances delivery power, other e-commerce companies warn that their competitive advantage over Ali and Temu is disappearing.

[Reporter Park Hongjoo]