On Thursday, E-Mart announced that its parent company, Shinsegae, plans to establish a joint venture with global retail giant Alibaba International by investing its full ownership stake in Gmarket, a leading South Korean e-commerce platform.
According to the plan, AliExpress Korea and Gmarket will be incorporated into a joint venture company in 2025, but they will continue to operate their respective platforms independently.
This cooperation may stem from the need for a new strategy after their sales dropped in November, as Chinese consumers have been spending less due to the property sector crisis and increased youth job insecurity.
Gmarket is also facing increasing competition in South Korea’s e-commerce market, where it is struggling against major local players like Coupang and Naver, as well as international competitors like Temu and AliExpress.