'Came for groceries, left with clothes': Kurly bets on fashion

"On the day you visit your child's classroom, here are some open-class day looks that are polished yet true to your personal style."

Kurly is pushing deeper into fashion. The e-commerce platform, already established in food and beauty, is rolling out fashion products and editorial content aimed at women in their 30s and 40s. Industry watchers see the move as part of a broader push to revive its initial public offering plans following a return to profitability.

According to industry sources, Kurly has added a dedicated fashion tab to the Market Kurly app and is expanding curated content alongside exclusive and special-edition products. The primary target is women in their 30s and 40s — shoppers who arrive for food and beauty and are nudged toward fashion along the way. The platform runs a "Style Note" feature recommending outfits for specific occasions, such as school open-class days and community center visits. About 300 brands are now listed, and Kurly recently launched an exclusive line by model Han Hye-jin called "Hedyt."

Kurly has set its fashion gross merchandise volume target for this year at 2.5 times last year's level. "Fashion still accounts for a small share of overall sales, but it is growing," the company said.

Fashion is a notoriously difficult category to manage: seasonal shifts and fast-moving trends make inventory control critical, and without a solid customer base and logistics infrastructure, entry is nearly impossible. Compared with beauty — a category that major retailers and food companies have been rushing into — fashion poses a steeper challenge.

Two pillars underpin Kurly's fashion push: a third-party seller model known internally as 3P, and its fulfillment service called FBK. Unlike food and cosmetics, where Kurly buys inventory directly, fashion relies on outside sellers to minimize stock risk. The 3P business — anchored by fashion and living goods — accounts for about 10 percent of total GMV but is growing fast. Last year its GMV rose 54.9 percent year-on-year, and growth continued into this year at 52.6 percent in the first quarter and 32.1 percent in the second quarter. Because Kurly earns commissions without holding inventory, the model also improves overall profitability.

FBK handles the dawn delivery side. Kurly uses spare capacity at its logistics centers in Gimpo, Pyeongtaek and Changwon to manage storage and delivery on behalf of sellers. Items shipped through FBK arrive faster than standard 3P orders, which typically take two to four days. Currently, dawn delivery is available for 20 to 30 percent of fashion products on the platform; Kurly plans to raise that figure to 70 to 80 percent. "We are bringing in inventory based on precisely forecast demand," the company said.

Kurly's diversification is adding momentum to expectations of a renewed IPO bid. The company was once valued at 4 trillion won ($2.99 billion) and seen as a marquee listing candidate, but it withdrew its plans in 2023 as investor sentiment soured. Since then, Kurly has focused on profitability, returning to the black last year and posting record quarterly earnings in both the first and second quarters of this year. A third-party rights offering by strategic partner Naver in May implied a company valuation of around 2.8 trillion won.

Some in the industry draw comparisons between Kurly and Musinsa. Musinsa, which targets a listing next year, applied last month for a preliminary review for a KOSPI listing. The online fashion platform has expanded into physical stores at home and abroad and moved into beauty as well. Kurly, too, plans to open its first permanent offline store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, next year.