Gmarket to target global consumers with 'Mega G' festival
Official poster of Gmarket's Mega G sale festival / Courtesy of eBay Korea
By Kim Jae-heun
The local e-commerce platform Gmarket, operated by eBay Korea, will host “Mega G,” its biggest sales event of the year, from Nov. 1 to 12, as part of its self-titled “Big Smile Day.”
Gmarket provides English- and Chinese-language services on its Global Shop platform, where international shoppers can search for cosmetics, foods, clothing and K-pop-related goods discounted at up to 70 percent. The e-commerce platform also gives out free e-coupons, which customers can use to add more discounts to the final price.
Gmarket will offer beauty products and grocery items on the first day in collaboration with Lotte Confectionery, Sulwhasoo, Clio, Caraz, Cherryville and Vaseline.
Some of the exclusive promotions for Mega G will include Sulwhasoo holding raffle events and Clio giving out free photo cards of K-pop girl group aespa.
Lotte Confectionery will introduce a limited edition of its Pepero snacks, with only 3,000 packs available. People can get a maximum 30 percent discount if they use a 20 percent discount coupon for Big Smile Day and another 10 percent discount coupon distributed by Gmarket. Those who purchase the limited-edition snack will receive two photo cards of K-pop boy band AB6IX, and for those who buy more than two packs, Gmarket will give a free clipboard.
On Monday, Gmarket held a live broadcast together with AB6IX on its official YouTube channel INSSA OPPA G to promote Pepero and invite the K-pop band's fans. INSSA OPPA G had garnered over 4.75 million subscribers as of Nov. 1. Last December, the channel launched the web drama “Can I Step In,” which gained popularity worldwide.
AB6IX gave away copies of its new album as a special gift to customers buying Pepero. AB6IX has been collaborating with various brands over the last year through Gmarket and meeting new fans around the world.
Gmarket also opened a special exhibition page for K-content where it sells various merchandise for the recent mega-hit drama “Squid Game,” including the red training suit, "ttakji" and "dalgona." Ttakji is a flat square game piece that a player use to hit and flip other ttakji. Dalgona is a sponge toffee-like sugar candy available in Korea from street vendors.
“We have opened the Mega G festival to celebrate Big Smile Day, the Korean version of Black Friday, which is the largest shopping festival of the year. Mega G will invite international customers to shop online from outside of Korea and give big discounts for their favorite local brands,” a Gmarket official said. “We have prepared a lot of special discounts for many popular Korean items in the fields of cosmetics, fashion and K-pop. There are products traded exclusively on our platform and we have invited K-pop stars to meet and communicate with international fans on our platform.”
Participating brands also include AmorePacific, Etude and Banila Co. in the cosmetics sector; CheilJedang, Dongseo Foods, Teazen and Chungjungone in the food field; Cherry KoKo and Attrangs in the fashion area; and YG Select, Yes 24 and Apple Music from the culture content industry.