Gmarket posts 3 consecutive quarters of GMV growth, eyes global expansion

Gmarket said Monday that its gross merchandise value (GMV) grew for three consecutive quarters, from the first through the third quarter of this year.

Cumulative GMV from January through September rose by double digits compared with the same period a year earlier. Gmarket had earlier reported that its first-quarter GMV turned positive for the first time in four years, driven by expanded seller support, stronger marketing, investment in platform upgrades and a global partnership-based export strategy.

The company plans to roll out a range of new services centered on global exports, delivery and content-driven shopping. On the exports front, it will link up with Alibaba's global platform as early as the first half of next year to extend its sales channels to more than 120 countries, with beauty products designated as a strategic export category and seller support to be strengthened accordingly.

Gmarket currently lists more than 30 million products from roughly 11,000 sellers across five Southeast Asian markets — Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam — through Lazada. In the year from October last year through September this year, cumulative overseas sales reached about 630,000 units, with beauty products accounting for roughly 20 percent. In September, the company opened an international shipping center in Incheon to bolster logistics support.

Gmarket also plans to introduce a new delivery service tailored to open-market sellers. Under the model, Gmarket handles pickup and delivery without requiring sellers to transfer inventory to a separate fulfillment center, reducing their logistics burden while giving them access to the "Star Delivery" guaranteed-arrival network. The service will launch in the Greater Seoul area at the end of this month, expand to regional areas in the first half of next year, and achieve nationwide coverage by year-end.

In November, Gmarket will launch "Gmarket Curator," an affiliate marketing service connecting creators with sellers. Sellers set a commission rate per product, and creators share product content and purchase links through social media and other external channels, earning revenue based on resulting sales. The company also plans to enhance its live commerce offering through an AI-powered short-form video feature and expand the environment for sellers to run their own live broadcasts.

Early next year, Gmarket will introduce an LLM-based AI chatbot to handle routine buyer inquiries around the clock, routing cases that require direct consultation to sellers. In the second half of next year, the company plans to launch an "AI shopping agent" that guides buyers from product discovery through to purchase.