[Ultra-Low Price Era] ③ Cheap but Low Quality? ... Capturing Even Emotional Value

Risks and Counterfeit Controversies in C-Commerce
Direct Breakthrough Through Large-Scale Investment

#Office worker Jimo recently changed his perspective after traveling to a small city in China. He experienced a remarkable technological advancement from the 'Made in China' products, which used to be low-quality and cheap. Until then, he had been hesitant to purchase Chinese products directly due to doubts about their performance and safety. However, after the trip, he installed the AliExpress application and bought a super-powerful hairdryer and a small vacuum cleaner he experienced at a Chinese hotel. Each cost only around 20,000 won, but his satisfaction was higher than with the products he had used before.

China's e-commerce platform (C-commerce) is evolving. Leveraging China's low labor and production costs to gain price competitiveness, it is targeting the domestic e-commerce market while also focusing on improving product quality.

According to the distribution industry on the 23rd, AliExpress signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Importers Association at the end of last month to strengthen safety monitoring of overseas direct purchase products. Through this agreement, AliExpress will select the best-selling items by category among the products it sells and request ingredient testing from five domestic testing institutions. Products found unsuitable for sale during this process will be immediately removed from sale. Although AliExpress has conducted its own safety inspections, most tests have been outsourced to overseas institutions, including those in China.

AliExpress began ingredient testing of its products because safety controversies have continuously arisen regarding Chinese direct purchase products sold on its platform. According to inspections conducted independently by the Korea Customs Service, Ministry of Environment, and Seoul Metropolitan Government, many products sold through overseas direct purchase on platforms like AliExpress and Temu contained carcinogens or heavy metals exceeding standard limits.

There have also been counterfeit product controversies. Counterfeit goods produced in China have been openly sold through C-commerce platforms. In particular, SHEIN, which officially declared its full-scale entry into the domestic market this year, displayed products with logos similar to famous fashion brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren and Kirsh at a pop-up store held in Seongsu-dong in July, but quickly withdrew them.

C-commerce serves as an overseas direct purchase platform and an open market connecting local Chinese sellers with domestic consumers. Because local sellers are responsible for providing product information, language barriers and other reasons sometimes result in insufficient product information for consumers. There have also been many cases of low-quality products being delivered to the point of being unusable. Especially in the case of Temu, as the number of cases receiving poor-quality products increased, the phrase "products bought from Temu" became a meme online.

In response, AliExpress is making a direct breakthrough against such controversies through large-scale investment in the Korean market. In March, AliExpress submitted a plan to the Korean government to invest approximately 1.5 trillion won over the next three years. This includes plans to build large-scale logistics centers, recruit domestic sellers, and implement consumer protection measures.

Some issues pointed out during the early stages of the service are showing signs of resolution. Customer service areas such as delivery, exchanges, and refunds are representative examples. Initially, AliExpress faced slow delivery and the inherent difficulty of exchanges and refunds on direct purchase platforms. Returning products to China was cumbersome and costly. Customer support was also problematic, with difficulties connecting by phone and frequent connections to foreign customer service agents via chat.

To address this, AliExpress introduced a strong policy allowing unconditional refunds within 90 days of purchase without additional proof for direct purchase products. Customers can receive a full refund if the product is defective or damaged upon delivery. Additionally, automatic refunds are processed if delivery is delayed beyond a certain period, and a coupon worth approximately 1,300 won is provided if delivery arrives later than the promised date. AliExpress also operates a dedicated Korean customer center and is expanding its support staff.

Improvements have also been made regarding issues such as harmful substances and counterfeit products. AliExpress uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically filter out products that infringe intellectual property rights. The AI inspects product page images and text, detecting most elements that violate intellectual property rights, such as logos. Products identified this way are immediately removed from AliExpress, and the sellers receive penalties. Additionally, AliExpress cooperates with intellectual property protection agencies in various countries to filter out counterfeit goods.

Such service enhancements specifically for one country are considered unusual. A distribution industry official said, "As a global platform, AliExpress is only improving services and making large-scale investment plans simultaneously in Korea among the countries it has entered," adding, "Although AliExpress has expanded into neighboring countries such as the United States, Japan, and Russia, it is not strengthening services there as much as it is in Korea."