As the 'Labang' Market Rapidly Grows... T-Commerce Crossing Over to TV Live Broadcasts

K Shopping, First in T-Commerce Industry to Implement Live Broadcast on TV

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] T-commerce (data-based home shopping broadcasting) companies are expanding their live sales broadcasts ('Labang') from mobile to TV channels. As the live commerce market rapidly grows, the strategy is to increase sales through a sales method that allows real-time customer feedback and communication.

According to industry sources on the 12th, K Shopping, operated by KTH, started 'TV App Live,' a simultaneous live broadcast on mobile and TV apps, from the 10th. This is the first time live commerce has conducted live broadcasts simultaneously on mobile and TV.

Until now, T-commerce channels have provided interactive services through a screen composed of recorded main broadcasts and TV apps where viewers can select with a remote control to watch or view product information. Shopping while watching TV is similar to home shopping, but the limitation of T-commerce broadcasting is that only recorded broadcasts are allowed under broadcasting law. Of course, the absence of live TV broadcasts means fewer regulations such as broadcast review.

K Shopping allows viewers to switch to the live broadcast screen on mobile when selecting the TV app. The main broadcast must be aired as a recorded broadcast only, but there are no live broadcast regulations for the TV app. K Shopping plans to implement mobile chat on TV App Live in the future to enable real-time interactive communication where customers’ reactions can be vividly confirmed and questions answered on TV.

It is expected that combining mobile live commerce broadcasts with TV broadcasts will double the product sales effect. In the past, sales increased on average tenfold when broadcasting on TV together compared to mobile live only. The first simultaneous TV channel-mobile broadcast conducted for about an hour from 11 a.m. on the 10th also saw sales increase 3.7 times compared to sales through the mobile app alone. A K Shopping official said, "The live broadcast service will be a great opportunity to reduce inventory burdens for small and medium-sized enterprises and local specialty product sellers while increasing sales efficiency, enabling full-scale entry into TV home shopping."

K Shopping’s move into TV live sales broadcasts is due to the rapid growth of the live commerce market, driven by the non-face-to-face consumption trend spread after COVID-19 last year and the preferences of MZ generation consumers. According to the Media Future Research Institute, the domestic live commerce market is expected to grow rapidly to a minimum of 10 trillion won and a maximum of 25 trillion won by 2025.

Accordingly, recently, major distribution companies such as Lotte and Shinsegae, home shopping companies, as well as large portal companies like Naver and Kakao, and e-commerce companies such as Coupang, 11st, and eBay Korea, are joining the live commerce market in large numbers. SK Stoa and Shinsegae TV Shopping, considered the three major T-commerce channels along with K Shopping, are also promoting plans to allow live sales broadcasts currently conducted on apps to be viewed simultaneously on the TV main screen.