E-commerce Steps Up to Support Seoul Small Business Owners Hit by COVID-19 Impact

Seoul City Holds 'Super Seoul Week' for Small Business Owners

E-commerce companies have stepped up to support small business owners in Seoul who are struggling due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in the metropolitan area. Their strategy is to contribute to revitalizing the local economy through various promotional events aimed at supporting sales channels.

Wemakeprice (WEMAKEPRICE) is holding 'Super Seoul Week' until the 11th of next month, promoting and offering discounts on excellent products from Seoul's small business owners. Through this event, Wemakeprice will showcase about 10,000 products from small businesses located in Seoul across categories such as fashion, beauty, food, electronics, living, and miscellaneous goods. Customers purchasing these products will receive discount coupons of up to 20%. During Super Seoul Week, Wemakeprice plans to actively promote small business products by setting up a dedicated section for Seoul small business products, banner advertisements, exposure on Wemakeprice's main page, and YouTube videos.

Wemakeprice is also helping small business owners enter the online market through its 'Win-Win Cooperation Program.' They have been discovering excellent products from small businesses in various regions nationwide that require online transition and providing customized solutions. Especially this year, to support small business owners whose sales channels have been blocked due to COVID-19, the scale of support has been expanded, and it is expected that about 3,500 businesses will benefit by the end of the year.

Lee Jeong-ju, head of Wemakeprice's Win-Win Cooperation Team, said, "We organized this event to help small business owners in Seoul who are struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic find new opportunities. We are presenting excellent products from small business owners with good intentions and at good prices."

Coupang is also running 'Super Seoul Week' until the 13th of next month, offering up to 20% instant discounts when purchasing products from Seoul's small business owners. A budget of 100 million KRW has been allocated to provide these instant discount benefits.

Products eligible for 'Super Seoul Week' can be found on Coupang's 'Cheer Up Korea' promotional page. Coupang directly purchased about 1,500 products from 332 small business vendors located in Seoul participating in this event. To directly help increase sales for small business owners, Coupang also supported marketing worth 107 million KRW, including main page advertisements.

Additionally, since April, Coupang has been holding the 'Cheer Up Korea' promotional event to provide new sales channels to local small business owners and help revitalize the regional economy amid the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. This event has introduced products from small and medium-sized businesses in regions such as Chungnam, Chungbuk, Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk, Daegu, Gwangju, and Jeju to customers nationwide.

Yoon Hye-young, Vice President of Retail at Coupang, said, "Through Super Seoul Week, products from Seoul's small business owners have joined the 'Cheer Up Korea' promotional event. We hope this event will be helpful both to small business owners in Seoul and to customers preparing gifts for the year-end season."