11st, Sales Amount of Social Enterprise Products Increased 31 Times

Sharp Increase in Sales Compared to Last Year
Boom in Contactless Online Consumption
Support Synergy Including Discount Coupon Distribution

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] 11st announced on the 27th that the transaction amount of the ‘2020 Social Value Connect (SOVAC) Market’ exhibition, which introduced products from social enterprises, increased more than 30 times compared to last year.

11st held the ‘2020 SOVAC Market’ exhibition from September 1 to 25, coinciding with the opening of ‘Social Value Connect 2020,’ the largest private festival related to social value in Korea, gathering a total of 318 products from 51 social enterprises, preliminary social enterprises, and social ventures.

Over 70,000 customers visited the exhibition during the 25 days. The sales amount increased approximately 31 times compared to last year. The ‘WeCan Cookie 3-set,’ which sold out all 4,000 sets within half the event period, emerged as a hit product of social enterprises. It is an organic handmade cookie produced by the social enterprise ‘WeCan,’ which employs people with intellectual and autism spectrum developmental disabilities and uses the sales proceeds for self-support programs for vulnerable groups.

Other sold-out products included the hobby kit ‘Making a Neon Sign of the Night Sea Whale’s Dream’ by ‘HobbyPool,’ a hobby platform that assembles and packages various hobby kits through elderly people in need of jobs; ‘Pesticide-Free Tomatoes’ by ‘HeukSalLim,’ a social enterprise representing domestic native organic farming; and ‘Low-Sodium Mushroom Powder Favorite Seaweed (Lunchbox Seaweed)’ by ‘Friends of Greenbelt,’ which sells fresh healthy food directly from farms and contributes to the local community by employing workers from the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region.

It is interpreted that customers’ interest in social enterprises actively solving social problems has increased amid the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition was planned to allow relatively easy participation through online purchases in a non-face-to-face environment, which is analyzed to have led to its popularity. 11st reduced the sales commission to about half for the 51 participating companies and also provided a 20% discount coupon worth up to 30,000 KRW.

Baek Changdon, Head of External Cooperation at 11st, said, “This was an opportunity to confirm customers’ interest and empathy toward social enterprises based on mutual growth through supporting distribution channels for social enterprises.” He added, “We will actively seek ways for mutual growth with social enterprises that strive to solve social problems and create social value in various fields.”