Digital days ahead for Seoul’s Dongdaemun market
Local media have reported that Seoul’s Dongdaemun market complex, home to sellers of textiles, apparel, footwear and leathergoods, is headed for increased digitisation, resulting from a strategic tie-up between Naver (the most popular search engine in South Korea) and Korean online marketplace Brandi.
The intention is to support Dongdaemun’s “K-fashion” wholesale and small retail business owners with digital transformation.
Naver will reportedly help incubate local businesses, so that they may become “smart”, digitally enabled brands with a global reach. Neighbouring Japan, in particular, has been singled out as a potential market.
The two companies will firstly establish and employ local smart logistics and fulfilment systems, online inventory management technology and advanced demand forecasting tools, in an effort to lower the barriers to entry for Dongdaemun-based enterprises interested in the opportunities offered by e-commerce.
Following this, sellers will be connected to Japanese “smart stores” via Yahoo! Japan and popular Japanese messaging application Line.
As part of the partnership, Brandi will expand its physical fulfilment centre footprint and launch a platform which connects Dongdaemun wholesale businesses to retail buyers by the close of 2021, local media said.
Brandi received an investment of 10 billion won (around $8.8 million) from Naver last September.
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