Seoul, Korea, 20 April 2009 – SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, KSE: 017670) announced its launch of an online shopping mall named qianxun.com in China, marking its full-fledged entry into the Chinese online shopping market.
qianxun.com is an online fashion mall that provides cross-border shopping services by offering a wide range of apparel and fashion products from Korea, the US, and Europe. It primarily targets wealthy urban customers in their 20s and 30s.
In December 2008, SK Telecom acquired PRMAX, the Chinese subsidiary of Korea Center, which supports the set up and operation of online shopping malls. Then the company went through a total reorganization of PRMAX’s online shopping website to launch qianxun.com.
Korea Center and WizWid - an online shopping mall that serves as a purchasing agency- will also join the company’s online business by sourcing products from Korea, the US and Europe.
The company plans to achieve RMB 100 million (KRW 19 billion, US$14.3 million) in sales by widening its product offerings to include other fashion-related items, cosmetics, travel products and cultural items to turn qianxun.com into one of the leading internet shopping malls in China within 5 years.
Seok-Hwan Lee, president of SK Telecom China Holding Company, said: “SK Telecom will work to make qianxun.com a leading online shopping mall offering unparalleled price, quality and customer service. To this end, the company will forge strategic partnerships and bring in local experts who have deep knowledge of the Chinese market and consumers. SK Telecom will also leverage its experience and insight from operating 11st in the Korean domestic market so as to create a new differentiated online shopping mall.” SK Telecom operates the online shopping mall www.11st.co.kr.
Meanwhile, the future of online shopping malls is promising given that the e-commerce market in China is growing at an average annual rate of 75% and the total sales of fashion products amounted to over 5 trillion won (US$3.77 billion) in 2008, increasing by 137% compared to the previous year.
