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Qoo10 acquires WeMakePrice to expand e-commerce biz

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By Kim Jae-heun
  • Published KST
  • Updated KST

The official website of WeMakePrice's online shopping platform / Screenshot from WeMakePrice website

By Kim Jae-heun

Qoo10, an e-commerce platform headquartered in Southeast Asia, has acquired control of local online shopping mall WeMakePrice, further expanding its presence in Korea's rapidly growing e-commerce market, according to company officials on Thursday.

It is Qoo10's third acquisition of domestic e-commerce firms after TMON last September and Interpark Commerce in March.

Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae

On Wednesday, Qoo10 acquired the largest shareholder Wonder Holding's entire stake of 86.2 percent in WeMakePrice and the remaining shares owned by NXC, the holding company of local game developer Nexon. Qoo10 will take over the management rights of WeMakePrice as well as its mobile app service for online shopping. Qoo10 Vice President Kim Hyo-jong will lead WeMakePrice as its CEO.

“We plan to apply the same success method proven with the acquisition of TMON to WeMakePrice and increase synergy between the two e-commerce firms. We will also add new growth engines to WeMakePrice and strengthen its business partnership with TMON and Interpark Commerce to build a global e-commerce ecosystem here based on Qoo10's global commerce capabilities and infrastructure,” a Qoo10 official said.

The transaction value of TMON's online shopping business in the fourth quarter of last year increased by 60 percent, year-on-year after Qoo10 took over its management. TMON's transaction value in the first quarter of this year also jumped by 70 percent from the same period of 2022.

WeMakePrice, which was considered the first-generation e-commerce company in the 2010s along with Coupang and TMON, has recently suffered from performance deterioration due to severe competition in the domestic market.

In 2019, Nexon invested 350 billion won ($265.3 billion) in Wonder Holdings, of which WeMakePrice took 250 billion won and used it all. Since then, the e-commerce platform has failed to attract additional investment and decided to sell itself.

Qoo19 is an e-commerce platform established in Singapore in 2010 by Gmarket founder Ku Young-bae. Headquartered in Southeast Asia, it currently operates in 24 countries including Northeast Asia, Europe and the United States.