Cross-border 'Three Dragons' Rapidly Expand in South Korea: Combined User Base Surpasses Local Fashion Platforms as They Accelerate Local Operations

Ebrun Exclusive, December 22 - Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress, Temu, and Shein are rapidly expanding in the South Korean market. With their user bases growing swiftly, the market share of local South Korean fashion e-commerce platforms is being squeezed.

According to data released by WiseApp Retail on the 17th, AliExpress had 9.16 million monthly active users (MAU) in South Korea in September this year. By October, this number increased to 9.921314 million, closely trailing the local platform ABL, which has over 10 million MAU.

Temu also saw significant growth in MAU this year, reaching 8.21 million, clearly surpassing Zigzag (4.09 million). In comparison, Shein's growth trajectory is even steeper.

As of October, Shein's MAU in South Korea reached 2.83 million, exceeding the local platform Quinit (2.7 million). Notably, Shein's user base surged 366% year-on-year. In January this year, its MAU was only 449,569, but by November it had grown to 1.983555 million, achieving more than a fourfold increase within 11 months.

Currently, the combined MAU of these three Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms (also referred to as C-commerce in South Korea) totals over 20 million, surpassing the aggregate user base of all major local South Korean fashion platforms like Zigzag and Quinit.

The rise of C-commerce is evident not only in user numbers but also in actual consumption data. Statistics from the Korean National Statistical Office show that in the first three quarters of this year, South Korea's overseas direct purchase amount was approximately 6.2537 trillion KRW, already exceeding the full-year 2022 figure of about 5.866 trillion KRW.

Within this, direct purchases from China reached 1.41 trillion KRW by the third quarter, a 19.9% year-on-year increase, accounting for 66.6% of the total overseas direct purchase market.

This growth trend is particularly pronounced in the apparel and fashion category. The related direct purchase amount increased from 2.6399 trillion KRW in 2022 to 3.2039 trillion KRW in 2023, and further expanded to 3.608 trillion KRW in 2024. By the third quarter of this year, the share of apparel and fashion direct purchases originating from China had risen to 42.1%.

Meanwhile, AliExpress and Temu have recently significantly expanded their local hiring in South Korea, focusing on core roles such as legal, content, merchandising (MD), and business development. The latter has also launched a 'Local to Local' (L2L) business.

Industry observers widely believe this move is not merely to support sales and logistics but aims to establish a localized operational system and product assortment capable of directly addressing South Korea's regulatory environment and consumer demands. Shein has also launched and begun selling its own beauty brand 'Sheglam' on its official Korean website, continuously expanding its business footprint in the country.

Analysts point out that C-commerce is gradually moving beyond the phase of being 'ultra-low-cost alternatives.' An industry insider stated, 'The competition is no longer just about price and delivery speed; it now requires a restructuring of the entire ecosystem from the perspectives of merchandising capability and seller structure.'

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