Musinsa to launch dedicated SME shopping platform

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency has teamed up with Musinsa to expand sales channels for small and medium-sized enterprise products.

The agency signed an MOU with Musinsa on Wednesday to introduce a dedicated online shopping platform for SME products within the fashion platform's marketplace.

Under the agreement, the two sides will launch the platform — known as a "co-growth mall" — inside Musinsa and work to expand distribution channels for SME products. They plan to cooperate in various ways, including allowing partner company employees to voluntarily purchase SME products and allocating co-growth points to those employees.

The co-growth mall is a shared-growth welfare platform the agency has operated since 2018. It was established to support small businesses and sole proprietors with quality products that struggle to secure distribution channels. Employees of participating companies and partner firms can use the platform to purchase SME products.

The platform currently lists about 200,000 products from more than 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. Through partnerships with private companies, the agency plans to provide SMEs with new sales outlets while giving employees of participating firms greater access to a wider range of SME products.

The agreement broadens the connection between a publicly operated SME-exclusive sales platform and a private retail company. Many small businesses struggle to secure distribution networks despite having competitive products, and expanding the co-growth mall through ties with large companies and private platforms is expected to help them establish stable new sales channels.

"We hope this collaboration with Musinsa will create more opportunities for consumers to discover the excellent products of small businesses," said Lee Tae-sik, chief executive of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency. "We will continue to expand cooperative partnerships with private companies to support small businesses and sole proprietors in opening new markets and achieving real growth."