[Start人] Interview with Wingit CEO Im Seungjin
Analyzed 1 Million Data Points... Identifying 'Unmet Demand'
Developed Over 2,500 Steady-Selling Products Including 'Source Dakgaseumsal'
Targeting B2B... Surpassed 300 Clients Including Small Business Owner Malls
Opening Flagship Store Next Month Featuring Wingit Ready Meals Menu
[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] "My experience founding the book review-based community startup Agreable became the driving force behind the growth of the ready-meal platform ‘Wingit.’ By thoroughly datafying community activities and actively reflecting demand, we were able to increase the number of members to 10,000. Wingit is similar in that it continuously develops ready meals tailored to consumers’ ‘unmet needs’ by analyzing data."
Discovering Consumer Needs Through Analysis of 1 Million Data Points and Manufacturer Interviews
Seungjin Lim, CEO of Wingit, recently said this in an interview with a reporter at the company’s headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Wingit is a ready-meal specialized platform spun off from Agreable, differentiated from existing businesses by launching RTH (Ready To Heat) and HMR (Home Meal Replacement) products based on over 1 million review data points. Since its founding in 2015, Wingit currently has 1.3 million members and a cumulative platform transaction volume of 80 billion KRW. It has attracted investments totaling 20.2 billion KRW from Mirae Asset and KDB Industrial Bank, among others. While existing businesses relied on intuition and chance to select products to sell, Wingit differentiates itself by analyzing over 1 million review data points to accurately identify consumer needs and launch high-quality products. To date, it has developed and sold more than 2,500 steady-seller products such as ‘Peanut Butter Grilled Squid’ and ‘Sauced Chicken Breast.’
Identifying consumers’ unmet needs, Wingit’s key differentiator, is a challenging task. CEO Lim succeeded in understanding consumer desires down to a detailed level through quantitative data analysis and qualitative analysis via interviews. A representative ready meal from Wingit is the ‘Sauced Chicken Breast.’ First, over 1 million reviews, 120,000 survey responses, Naver Lab data, related search terms, and hashtag counts are analyzed morphologically and nouns are extracted to identify keywords such as ‘chicken breast,’ ‘seasoned chicken,’ ‘charcoal-grilled ribs,’ and ‘Phu Phat Pong Curry.’ Then, through customer and manufacturer interviews, preferred flavors are extracted, leading to the development of a lineup of five varieties of sauced chicken breast.
CEO Lim explained, "Launching a product involves about 46 detailed steps including quantitative and qualitative analysis, product planning hypotheses, and verification. Experimental products are first procured, and if sales and responses are good, we release our own private brand (PB) products to minimize new product risks."
Unlike other e-commerce platforms, Wingit is also implementing a strategy to strengthen community elements. By sharing over 1 million reviews along with customers’ concerns, questions, and stories, it maximizes revisit rates and dwell time to drive sales. CEO Lim said, "Since the second half of this year, we have separately extracted and operated a community tab within the Wingit app. By sharing personal experiences such as reviews and stories, trust in the brand and products and consumer intimacy increase naturally, expanding the user base without increasing discounts or additional marketing costs."
Expanding Business to B2B... “Local Restaurants Operated Solely with Wingit Ready Meals Will Emerge”
Wingit is expanding its business beyond the existing B2C (business-to-consumer) model into the B2B (business-to-business) sector, including business malls. It supplies Wingit ready meals to major restaurants and meal kit specialty stores, surpassing 300 SMB (small and medium business) business mall clients. Domestic sales channels such as Lotte Mart, Today’s House, and Olive Young are also rapidly increasing. CEO Lim said, “Since logistics costs for ready meals occur per delivery, B2B stores that sell many products at once are more profitable. We plan to increase the B2B segment to 20% of total sales by next year by offering discounts to B2B clients as we reduce delivery costs.” Wingit also plans to expand into Japan following Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Wingit’s next goal is to operate local restaurants solely with its own ready meals. CEO Lim stated, "Next month, we plan to open a flagship store near Gangnam Station where over 80% of the menu will consist of Wingit ready meals. By demonstrating that ready meals can match the taste and quality of dishes prepared in restaurants, we plan to further expand related business models."
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