Tmon's New Growth Strategy This Year: 'Direct Purchase and Reverse Direct Purchase'

Synergy Blueprint of TMON and Qoo10
Maximizing Connection and Operational Efficiency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] E-commerce company TMON's new growth strategy, unveiled after its acquisition by Qoo10 in October last year, will be concretized this year. Domestic sellers on TMON are expected to start a 'reverse direct purchase' service, selling directly overseas by utilizing Qoo10's platform and global delivery network. The overseas direct purchase sector, which can be seen as groundwork for synergy with Qoo10, has already begun to show results.

On the 3rd, TMON announced that systematic linkage with Qxpress, Qoo10's logistics-specialized affiliate, is underway. Since last month, TMON has launched an integrated fulfillment service called 'Qx Prime' for its sellers in collaboration with Qxpress. This service provides a one-stop process covering product registration, ordering, packaging, and delivery. The primary goal is efficient logistics operation and fast delivery. However, looking deeper, it is interpreted as a strategy to encourage TMON sellers to utilize Qxpress. In fact, by using the Qx Prime service, not only domestic delivery but also overseas shipping is possible through Qxpress's logistics infrastructure in 16 countries. Qoo10 operates seven localized e-commerce platforms in five countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. TMON sellers will thus be able to pursue direct exports overseas based on Qoo10's local platforms and Qxpress's logistics infrastructure.

Synergy is already emerging in the direct purchase field, Qoo10's specialty. Since November last year, TMON has opened a dedicated direct purchase section, selecting and offering popular direct purchase products from Qoo10. Although some direct purchase products were handled before, cooperation with Qoo10 has enhanced product competitiveness. Based on Qxpress's logistics capabilities, domestic delivery times have been reduced to within one week. As a result, as of January this year, TMON's direct purchase products saw a 35% increase in purchase volume and a 34% increase in the number of buyers compared to the previous year. By product category for overseas direct purchase items, electronics and digital goods increased by 35%, beauty by 118%, food by 98%, and baby and children's products by 483% in sales. Previously, overseas direct purchases on TMON were centered on luxury goods, but they have expanded to various product categories. Even excluding luxury goods, TMON's overseas direct purchase sales have steadily increased by more than 10% every month.

Recently, to further enhance synergy with Qoo10's direct purchase products, TMON also launched a new page on its website called 'TMON World.' This page links and sells Qoo10's products and services. A TMON official stated, "Since TMON was acquired by Qoo10, we have been pursuing multifaceted cooperation not only for quantitative expansion through inter-affiliate connections but also to strengthen internal stability such as reducing operating costs."