Wingit Surpasses 80 Billion KRW in Cumulative Transactions... "Establishing Leadership Position"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] HMR (Home Meal Replacement) vertical commerce startup Wingit announced on the 18th that its cumulative transaction amount on its platform surpassed 80 billion KRW as of last September.

Wingit is a vertical commerce platform selling high-quality HMR that can be prepared within 10 minutes under the vision of "making everyday life convenient and delicious." In particular, based on thorough data analysis, the expansion of its own PB brands, implementation of nationwide next-day delivery networks, and consumer-empathy brand campaigns have been effective. Thanks to advances in the D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) commerce sector, the transaction volume has increased about sevenfold over the past three years.

Growth remains steep this year as well. The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for home dining, and in the era of high inflation, convenience foods have gained popularity as lunch options for office workers, actively targeting the growth of related markets. Wingit analyzed customer demand through data such as morphological analysis and search indicators and consecutively launched PB products tailored to these needs. As a result, monthly transaction volume exceeded 4 billion KRW in March, and sales reached 30 billion KRW by the third quarter of this year.

Wingit's strategy to expand its own PB brands is analyzed to have led to increased sales. Since launching its service in 2015, Wingit has steadily introduced its own PB brands reflecting about seven years of product sourcing and development know-how, strengthening its HMR expertise. It is expanding categories by launching the premium home meal replacement brand "Goreun," diet management brand "Rally," bakery brand "Third Bakery," snack and late-night food brand "Favoit," and this year, the vegan brand "Posibe."

The nationwide next-day delivery system is also cited as a growth factor. Last year, Wingit opened a dedicated leased frozen and refrigerated complex logistics center and operated next-day early morning delivery, further enhancing shopping convenience for customers. Free shipping is provided for orders over 40,000 KRW, increasing the average order amount per person by 21.6% compared to before. The repurchase rate also exceeded 60%.

Especially, Wingit positioned itself as a rising powerhouse in the online food market by selecting actress Chun Woo-hee as its advertising model this year and launching the "Declare Picky Eating with Wingit" brand campaign. The campaign conveyed the message that delicious and high-quality meals can be easily enjoyed at home tailored to lifestyle and preferences in a cheerful way according to different situations, gaining consumer empathy. Through the TVC released this spring, awareness quickly grew, surpassing 1 million cumulative subscribers by the third quarter and exceeding 1.2 million this month.

Wingit successfully increased customer revisit rates by newly opening a community feature in the second half of the year within the Wingit platform, where users can upload honest product reviews and unique plating photos and communicate. Additionally, collaborations with mega YouTubers such as "Leo J," "Ipjjalheun Haetnim," and "Hibap" introduced authentic storytelling through mukbang and cookbang content, receiving enthusiastic responses from the MZ generation.

Im Seungjin, CEO of Wingit, said, "As a result of consistently providing convenient and delicious daily life to busy modern people without losing the initial goal of the startup, we achieved the milestone of surpassing 80 billion KRW in cumulative transaction volume. We plan to expand our business model to the B2B sector within this year in addition to the D2C business and establish ourselves as a leader in the HMR commerce market."