Gangnam-gu Small Business Owners' 'Live Commerce Season 2' Sales Boom?

Season 2 Episode 1 Attracts 4,000 Visitors... 70 Small Business Owners Recruited from May to December for One-Stop Production Support

Small Business Live Commerce

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangnam-gu opened the door to the ‘Gangnam-gu Small Business Live Commerce (Gangso-ra Project) Season 2’ on the 26th.

The main character of the first session was a young entrepreneur running a cafe in Yeoksam-dong, who sold desserts such as financiers and cannel?s together with comedian Hong Rok-gi, who appeared as the show host.

The filming took place in the lobby of Gangnam-gu Office and was broadcast live in real time through ‘Naver Shopping Live,’ attracting 4,000 viewers during the one-hour broadcast.

The Gangso-ra Project is a live commerce business promoted in cooperation with Naver by Gangnam-gu in 2021 to help local small business owners secure online sales channels amid the spread of non-face-to-face consumption culture due to COVID-19, recording a cumulative audience of 400,000 last year.

This year, Gangnam-gu will recruit 70 small business owners and conduct 70 one-hour live commerce sessions from May to December, supporting overall production including studio and show host arrangements and filming. It will also operate customized one-on-one consulting on live commerce operation methods and a mentor-mentee program between participants of Seasons 1 and 2.

In addition, the ‘Gangso-ra Market’ to support offline sales is scheduled to be held in October.

Small business owners wishing to participate can fill out an application form on the district office website and attach a mail-order business report, business registration certificate, product introduction, etc. Final participants will be selected periodically through the review of the local council’s working committee.

Lee Gi-seon, head of the Regional Economy Division, said, “Gangnam-gu has provided various supports such as rent, public utility fees, management stabilization funds, loan support, and interest subsidy projects for small business owners and SMEs struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis. Encouraged by the positive response from participants, we hope many people will participate in the small business live commerce project, held for the second time following last year, to promote excellent products and help increase sales.”