Establishing Artiz Competitiveness and Creator Engagement through Commerce and Content Integration Services
Tmon, which is planning to go public domestically this year, has made a bold move in the live commerce sector. The recent appointment of Jang Yoon-seok, CEO of Atriz, as co-CEO is interpreted as a strategic step to strengthen live commerce competitiveness. Having started live commerce early in 2017 and cultivated this market, Tmon plans to leverage the digital content competitiveness built through 'Pikicast,' a service by CEO Jang’s Atriz, to attempt differentiated services.
According to the e-commerce industry on the 26th, Tmon is expected to build services that combine commerce and content by integrating Atriz’s competitiveness and creator connections, starting with the appointment of the new co-CEO.
◆Differentiation of Live Commerce Content=Atriz, led by CEO Jang, is a company that operates the content platform ‘Pikicast.’ Pikicast launched in 2014 with the slogan ‘Shallow Fun of the Universe,’ providing vibrant mobile content that received explosive responses from young audiences. It has since been fully revamped into a platform business that fosters an ecosystem to help individual creators monetize their content.
The industry is paying attention to ‘PikiLive,’ one of Pikicast’s services. This is a live commerce service where creators introduce selected products and interact with customers who receive this information. The goal is to upgrade creator support into a crowdfunding investment model and create a win-win ecosystem that achieves creator growth and monetization. An industry insider explained, "PikiLive focuses on content planning and platform functionality that leverage the unique advantages of live streaming."
Tmon expects Atriz’s competitiveness to create synergy with its existing live commerce service, ‘T-Bion.’ Since 2017, Tmon has been operating the first live commerce service in the domestic e-commerce industry, strengthening its competitiveness through diverse content. It broadcasts entertainment shows like ‘Show Street Fighter,’ where celebrities compete in sales, regularly schedules ‘Tmon Home Live,’ the industry’s first live broadcast selling residential products, and operates the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platform ‘Tmon Select,’ continuously experimenting in the live commerce field.
Last year, Tmon was the sole e-commerce company to conduct real-time sales broadcasts during the government-hosted ‘Korea Together Sale.’ CEO Jang stated, "We need to organically combine Tmon’s strong ‘commerce DNA’ with ‘content DNA.’ The answer is clear, so we must upgrade the organization, corporate culture, and working methods to execute it."
◆Strategy to Strengthen Competitiveness Ahead of IPO=The reason Tmon is focusing on strengthening live commerce competitiveness through a co-CEO system is that it can be recognized as a major revenue source ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). According to the industry, the domestic live commerce market grew to a scale of 3 trillion KRW last year and is expected to expand to 8 trillion KRW by 2023. Notably, while the purchase conversion rate in domestic e-commerce is around 1%, the purchase conversion rate for live commerce is estimated at 10%.
Since 2017, Tmon has achieved results such as a more than 30-fold increase in average live commerce viewers and a more than threefold annual increase in customers purchasing through broadcasts. The sales of partner merchants increased approximately 3.7 times compared to the average monthly sales of the previous three months in the month of the broadcast, and the average monthly sales for three months after the broadcast were more than 2.5 times higher than the same period before the broadcast.
It is expected that the roles of the two co-CEOs will naturally be divided. An industry insider said, "The former CEO, a financial expert, is expected to handle Tmon’s IPO preparations, while CEO Jang will lead business operations centered on live commerce."
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