Fair Trade Commission Takes Action Against C-Commerce... Ali Pledges "Compliance with Domestic Laws"

Alikorea "Will Comply with Domestic Laws"

The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the C-commerce (Chinese e-commerce) company 'AliExpress,' which provides direct purchasing services from China.

According to the distribution industry on the 6th, the Fair Trade Commission sent investigators to Ali Korea's office in Jung-gu, Seoul last week to secure materials related to consumer dispute response. Ali Korea is a domestic corporation established by AliExpress and is responsible for marketing in the Korean market.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Fair Trade Commission is investigating whether AliExpress has fulfilled its consumer protection obligations stipulated under the Electronic Commerce Act. According to the Electronic Commerce Act, communication sales brokerage businesses like AliExpress must provide consumers with information about the identity of the vendors. Additionally, they must have personnel and facilities in place to respond to consumer complaints and dispute resolution.

A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "We conducted an on-site investigation to check whether AliExpress is complying with consumer protection obligations under the Electronic Commerce Act," adding, "If there are any violations of the law, we will respond strictly."

In response to the Fair Trade Commission's investigation, AliExpress expressed a fundamental position to comply with domestic laws. An AliExpress representative said, "We are doing our best to maintain cooperation with the Fair Trade Commission," and added, "We will comply with all relevant Korean laws and regulations for the best interests of our stakeholders and consumers."

AliExpress has been criticized for issues such as delivery delays, some sellers selling counterfeit products, and difficulties with exchanges and refunds. According to the Korea Consumer Federation, complaints related to AliExpress received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center last year totaled 465 cases, a fivefold increase compared to 93 cases the previous year. By type, contract non-fulfillment including delivery delays, wrong deliveries, missing products, and loss during delivery accounted for about half of the total with 226 cases.

During last year's National Assembly audit, concerns were also raised about AliExpress's 'counterfeit sales' problem. At that time, Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, stated, "We will review the investigation from the perspective of unfair practices and consider temporary suspension orders if necessary."

Meanwhile, AliExpress is gradually expanding its influence in the domestic e-commerce market by leveraging its 'ultra-low prices.' According to the marketing cloud operated by IGAWorks, the monthly active users (MAU) of the AliExpress app as of December last year were 5.6 million. This is the third highest number among domestic e-commerce apps for the same month.

The number of customers using AliExpress is steadily increasing. According to the marketing cloud data, the number of users of the AliExpress app last month increased by 600,000 compared to January, marking the largest user growth among all apps during the same period.