'유통공룡' 아마존 진출에...유통가 '초긴장'<br /><br />The global e-commerce market has witnesses unprecedented growth this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.<br />And now, the domestic market is about to experience a shake-up because the market's biggest player, Amazon, will be entering the South Korean market.<br />Park Se-young reports.<br />The world's largest e-commerce company Amazon has selected local firm 11th street as its stepping stone into the South Korean market, ...in a move that has caught industry watchers off guard.<br />Amazon is the number one e-commerce retailer in the U.S. and five other countries, ...whereas 11th street is ranked fourth in the domestic market.<br />But the Korean market is full of potential.<br />The domestic e-commerce market size grew from 34 billion U.S. dollars in 2013 to over 100 billion dollars in 2018.<br />The market is expected to reach nearly 150 billion dollars in 2020.<br />And some forecasts say Korea will become the third largest e-commerce market in the world next year ...after China and the U.S.<br />"This is surprising news. To Amazon, it would have been an attractive option to test market responses while minimizing risks."<br />Although this may not bring any immediate changes, the industry is watching closely ...because major local firms like Coupang have been benchmarking Amazon's business strategies.<br />"This is probably not welcome news for market leaders like Naver and Coupang. Korean companies are expected to cooperate with each other and increase their combined size."<br />In fact, Korean retailers have already been signing some big deals to boost their competitive edge in the industry.<br />Naver has signed with the country's top delivery company CJ Logistics to improve fulfillment capabilities, ...and GS Retail has merged with GS Home Shopping to grow into an integrated on-and-offline commerce platform.<br />The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people's shopping habits, ...resulting in increasing competition among e-commerce retailers, and Amazon's entry will only make the market more competitive.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News.<br />
