KakaoStyle Fashion Commerce Platform
Controversy Over Coercive Participation Conditions Disadvantaging Sellers
Clarification Issued Through Additional Notice
Embarrassed by Personal Data Leak Earlier This Month
Kakao Style's fashion commerce platform 'Zigzag' is struggling with consecutive controversies ahead of the year’s biggest 'special' Black Friday (Bluff Week) event, which will be held from the 20th of this month to the 4th of next month. Earlier this month, it faced difficulties due to the leakage of customer information of some app members, and recently, it has been embroiled in controversy for allegedly forcing participating sellers to join Bluff Week under unfavorable conditions, prompting efforts to manage the situation.
According to industry sources on the 17th, Zigzag recently posted an additional notice on the seller platform 'Partner Center,' stating that "no disadvantages will be given to sellers who participate in overlapping events." This was a revision of the previous week's notice, which had announced that "participation in other company events overlapping with our shopping mall event during the event period is not allowed," a statement that sparked controversy. Kakao Style explained, "The initial mention regarding overlapping participation in other events during Bluff Week was intended to prevent the dispersion of consumer purchasing power and thereby maximize the benefits for sellers who invest costs and efforts in promotions."
The earlier notice also reportedly included content recommending sellers participating in Bluff Week to "offer at least a 5% discount compared to the lowest price in the past three months," and stating that "sellers not participating in the event will not have opportunities to increase sales except from the 13th to the 19th." Sellers expressed outrage through online communities, calling these messages from Zigzag 'pressure' and 'discrimination.'
In response, Kakao Style stated, "The intention was to provide various benefits to consumers during Bluff Week and to enable sellers to grow their stores and generate significant sales," adding, "In a situation where many fashion platforms compete, sellers have multiple options, and if Zigzag’s special price conditions do not fit, participation can be decided through individual consultations with merchandisers (MDs)."
They further added, "The related content was added with the intention of encouraging sellers who do not participate in the event to maximize sales before Bluff Week begins," and acknowledged that "some expressions used during the communication process could be misinterpreted," promising to strengthen communication with sellers for mutual growth going forward.
Meanwhile, on the 6th, Zigzag experienced a data breach affecting the personal information of 1,198 platform members. When logging into the app, other customers’ names, phone numbers, addresses, emails, shared entrance codes, and 11 other items were exposed. This was confirmed to be an error caused by abnormal sessions occurring in the internal system that stores logged-in member information, resulting in account changes. Kakao Style notified affected members of the incident and took steps to resolve the situation by providing 20,000 points usable on the Zigzag platform.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
