SEOUL KOREA -There are myriads of online shopping malls through which zillions of people sell or buy things. Under the existing online shopping mall systems, sellers simply sell products and shoppers simply them. When we want to sell something online, we have to sign up with some online shopping mall to be a seller; when we want to buy something, we only buy as buyers.
However, such a dichotomy between selling and buying has problems. First of all, sellers have to resort to cannibalistic marketing tactics to sell their products. Thus, sellers are stuck in a race to the bottom when it comes to price. In addition, they need to display their products in a way that can better appeal to online shoppers, they have to curry favor with or collude with online shopping mall merchandisers (MDs). As a result, no matter how many products they sell, they end up swinging into the red. Such systems spawn low-quality services and illegal selling tactics, consequently victimizing customers.
Though such unfavorable conditions have persisted, no one has ever stepped forward to take issue with such systems, except Kwon Oh-seok, Chairman of Giga Korea (a Korea-based IT solution company). Chairman Kwon has developed a new-concept online shopping mall system that addresses the shortcomings of the current systems. Giga Korea has already created a new paradigm of online shopping in China in partnership with the CITIC Group, the Communist Youth League of China and Ping An Bank of China.
Below are excerpts from the Korea’ IT Times’ interview with Chairman Kwon.
Q: I’ve heard that Giga Korea’s online shopping mall platform is pretty much revolutionary. Could you tell us what sets your platform apart from others
A: Giga Korea’s e-commerce platform for online shopping , which has already introduced a completely new paradigm of online shopping to China, is an unprecedented system that creates markets for products and helps shoppers buy products at reasonable prices. What sets Giga Korea’s apart from the existing online shopping malls is that it is the world’s first “multi-settlement,” personalized online shopping mall which benefits producers, sellers and consumers all at the same time.
Existing online shopping malls strive to increase traffic inflows, drawing a clear line between sellers and buyers. On Giga Korea’s ecommerce platform, however, once you have created your own account, you can easily open your own online shop to directly sell products posted by producers or you can drag other sellers’ products onto your online shop to sell them on behalf of the original sellers.
For instance, a seller can drag a producer’s printer onto his or her online shop to sell it. Then a customer buys the printer on the seller’s online shop. Though the producer did not sell the printer directly to the customer, the producer will get the proceeds from the sale and the seller also get a commission for that.
In other words, on Giga Korea’ platform, sellers can sell things that are not on hand. They just drag items that they want to sell onto their online shops, with a view to receiving a commission on each sale. Likewise, online shoppers also can buy or sell on Giga Korea’ platform. Since products can be sold either directly or indirectly by anyone who has a Giga Korea account, either sales or commissions will accumulate on Giga Korea’ platform, a ground-breaking ecommerce system whereby sellers can become buyers and vice versa.
Second, Giga Korea’ platform is also available on mobile phones.
For example, once the item you dragged onto your online shop from its sellers’ online shop has been sold, you will receive a commission for the sale and you can check it out via your mobile phone. Therefore, using Giga Korea’s ecommerce platform will turn your mobile phone into a money maker. Hence domestic telecom operators need to proactively embrace and optimize Giga Korea’s technology for their mobile services in line with mobile users’ demands.
Furthermore, Giga Korea’s hassle-free digital currency system will allow producers, sellers and buyers to make all the online transactions with a single card.
Third, online shop owners will be managing their shops on their own because online shops are easy to use, easy to maintain, easy to modify on Giga Korea’s platform. With nearly 20 screen themes & wallpapers, the multi-drag function and easy-to-edit layouts, all you need to do to edit your own shop on Giga Korea is click.
Setting up your own online shop is very easy. You just drag what you need onto your online shop from easy-to-use Shop Editor. You click on My Mall to post writing. Go to Plaza if you are looking for something. Click on Preview in Data Management to view photos or your writing in a clearly organized manner.
Fourth, Giga Korea’s another unique feature is its nano technology. People can run their own online shops in multiple languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese; up to 3.8 million online shops can be displayed with a single click. The Giga Korea platform running in China is capable of showing as many as 1 trillion online shops with a single click.
Q: Why did S. Korea give the cold shoulder to such an innovative ecommerce platform which has been embraced by it neighbor China
A: Though S. Korea has been consistently chanting ‘creative economy’ and ‘job creation’, the nation has been taking a very conservative stance towards new ideas. The nation’s endemic factionalism, vested interests’ monopolistic power, emphasis on school ties, cronyism, human networks and public servants’ authoritarian and closed mindset have all prevented Giga Korea’s ecommerce platform from making its debut in the domestic market.
Not long ago, I proposed to several Korean universities the idea of opening a “new economics” department, dedicated to entrepreneurship and job placement, because I thought that setting up such a department would eventually lead to job creation and economic revitalization. My proposal has yet to receive any positive responses from the universities.
But, there was a surprising turn of events when I visited China. At that time, I had a late night meeting with the president of a Chinese university, the head of the national strategy planning, CEO of Guo Dunjivi Shenzhen-based Company, Jangjung and director Choi Don-seok. The university president politely asked me, “I want to set up a new department based on your Giga Korea’s technology in my university to promote entrepreneurship and job placement. Could you help us with that”
Since then, I have been materially and spiritually assisting the Chinese university with setting up a “new economics” department. Then, why did China adopt my idea of setting up a “new economics” department, which S. Korea had shrugged off Here, I cannot help raising the question: Why did Korean-born short-track skater Ahn Hyun-soo give up his South Korean citizenship to become a naturalized Russian citizen
I also found myself in the same position as Ahn Hyun-soo (now Viktor Ahn) was in before he decided to give up his Korean passport. Investing a whopping KRW 30 billion in Giga Korea’s technology, the Chinese government has launched Giga Korea’s online shopping mall technology in the Chinese market. As a matter of fact, what the Chinese government wanted at first was to purchase full rights to the technology.
Experts on doing business with China advised that I should be naturalized as a Chinese citizen to make my business a success in China. However, though my country had marginalized Giga Korea, I had no intention of selling the technology away to China since there was no match for Giga Korea’s cutting-edge technology in China.
Thus, agreeing to a 30-70 revenue split, I signed a contract to launch Giga Korea’s online shopping mall system in the Chinese market on the condition that we hold the technology 100% and China fully takes care of system operation, funds, and wages for technicians.
Q: I’ve also heard that China is not the only foreign country that Giga Korea has found favor with.
A: That’s true. Giga Korea’s technology has been in high demand in Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia. I look to open up new markets around the globe in order to create an environment where Giga Korea’s chain stores and online shops can sell Korean SMEs’ products and other Korean-brand products globally.
By addressing any holdups in the distribution process of products, from producer to consumers, and streamlining the structure of product distribution, I will make sure that Giga Korea’ online shopping platform will create a win-win situation for all, i.e. producers, sellers and consumers. On top of that, Giga Korea will promote price formation at reasonable levels and job creation through innovative distribution, thereby speeding up S. Korea’ endeavors to move forward with the creative economy initiative.
Hence I would like to advise the S. Korean government to stop halfheartedly parroting ‘creative economy’ and to take a moment to think carefully about why this homegrown technology has found supporters not on home turf but on foreign soil and about what kinds of mindsets are needed for the nation to realize the creative economy initiative.
This revolutionary platform for online/offline shopping is scheduled to be unveiled in S. Korea on March 21, 2015. Giga Korea’s platform has made a successful debut in China on the back of 1.5 million Chinese college students. Our business plan to spread Giga Korea’s platform across the world will be disclosed on March 21 at COEX in Seoul. Executives from 1,000 large companies in and outside Korea, such as Bill Gates and IT experts from Google, Apple and Microsoft, will be invited to the presentation.
By Monica Chung
