Increasing Live Broadcasts and Collaborations with Influencers... Home Shopping's Full Effort to Attract the MZ Generation

Mobile Sales Surpass TV by Far
CJ Competes to Acquire Fashion Mall W Concept
Hyundai, Lotte Strengthen Live Broadcast Channels
Increase Workforce and Establish New Content Teams

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Last year, the home shopping industry, which showed remarkable growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has strengthened its mobile and online competitiveness to adapt to the rapidly changing shopping environment.

Targeting the MZ generation (people in their 20s and 30s) who are more familiar with video content such as YouTube than TV broadcasts, companies are expanding their live commerce (live streaming commerce) business and actively considering acquiring platforms popular among younger customers.

Mobile Sales Surpass TV Sales

On the 19th, it was revealed that the proportion of mobile shopping sales within home shopping revenue has surpassed that of TV shopping, as preference for contactless shopping has increased.

In the case of GS Home Shopping, last year the share of mobile sales was 56.3%, far exceeding TV shopping (34.9%) and PC-based internet shopping (7.2%). Hyundai Home Shopping also recorded sales of 28.5 billion KRW in its live commerce business last year, more than five times the previous year's 5 billion KRW.

Home shopping companies place significance on confirming the interest and positive response to live commerce mainly from the MZ generation. However, the key issue is whether the 20s and 30s generation will continue to show interest in home shopping even after COVID-19.

An industry insider said, "Based on the experience accumulated from live TV home shopping broadcasts, we are working hard to create more specialized products and differentiated content that draws attention to the products," adding, "Whether the home shopping customer base, which was mainly people aged 40 and above, can be expanded to include those in their 20s and 30s will determine the sustainability of the home shopping industry going forward."

Urgent Need to Expand Consumer Base

CJ O Shopping plans to strengthen its competitiveness this year by expanding its commerce brand portfolio centered on fashion, living, and health foods, building on last year's growth in its own brand sales.

At the CJ ENM level, the acquisition of shares in the fashion shopping mall ‘W Concept’ is being seriously considered, and if successful, it will secure an online fashion platform targeting women in their 20s as the main users.

GS Home Shopping aims to enhance its core business capabilities through expanding signature brands, strengthening media commerce, and digital transformation. It also plans to continue collaborating with startups. Ahead of the merger with GS Retail scheduled for July, a new online platform is expected to launch around April, which will be integrated into GS Shop to create synergy effects.

Hyundai Home Shopping plans to increase its live commerce operation staff by about 10 people this year and double the number of professional show hosts. The number of shopping live broadcasts will be increased to over 50 times per week, and fixed programs will expand from the current 7 to 15. They also plan to strengthen media content by collaborating with the beauty MCN ‘Different Millions,’ in which they invested 12 billion KRW last year.

Lotte Home Shopping has established a content division consisting of about 30 people, including mobile live broadcast specialized PDs and merchandise planners (MDs), to strengthen its live commerce channel. In addition to planning fresh and unique content targeting the MZ generation, the main users of live commerce, in collaboration with famous influencers, they also plan to present specialized content tailored to the main TV home shopping customers aged 40 to 60.