A report of the Tax Statistics Information Service shows the number of online shopping mall business reached 543,206 as of November 2022. This is a 21.7% increase on previous year of 446,420. Despite this explosive growth of e-commerce, industry experts voice together for the need of institutional strategy.  

Established in 2021, the Korea Virtual Communication Sales Association is taking the lead in protecting the rights and interests of small business owners and is running an e-commerce skills course to promote their selling ability. 

Representing the voice of small business owners

So far, the e-commerce polices in the nation rather have represented the interests of large internet service providers such as KT, SKT and Naver. The problem of this is that small business owners have not received due protection and compensations from either central or local government.

Taking the matter seriously, the Korea Virtual Communication Sales Association set sail and is making their voice heard. 

It was this association that took the lead of receiving due compensation for small business owners when the KT system failure occurred in 2021 and the Kakao system failure the next year. 

The association president Kim Hong-min says, “If a platform operator fails to run its system, hundreds of thousands of small businesses depending their operation on it lose money. The trade stops and the live commerce come to a halt. Due compensation is important but what is more important is to make sure it won’t happen again through institutional strategy and legal device.”

▲ Korea Virtual Communication Sales Association / President Kim Hong-min

E-commerce skills that meet fast changing consumer trend

The Korea Virtual Communication Sales Association is running e-commerce courses for small business owners to adapt to fast changing consumer trend. 

The courses cover a variety of areas including effective exposure of products and services, contents creation, live-commerce and the rapidly emerging short form trade. 

Kim says, “It is very important for us to know that the large platform operators have been able to grow explosively thanks to the contributions of small business owners. The association bears this in mind and will make our voice heard alongside promoting e-commerce skills of our members.”