South Korean Retailer Shinsegae to Establish Joint Venture with Alibaba

By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) – On Thursday, South Korean retailer Shinsegae (KS:004170) announced plans to form a joint venture with Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) International through its affiliate, E-Mart.

The new venture will be partly funded by Shinsegae’s complete stake in the South Korean e-commerce platform Gmarket, as stated in a regulatory filing.

The joint venture, set to launch in 2025, will encompass AliExpress Korea and Gmarket, although both platforms will continue to operate independently, as noted in a separate statement from Shinsegae.

In November, Alibaba Group Holding fell short of analysts' sales projections due to a decline in spending among Chinese consumers, driven by ongoing struggles in the country’s property sector and rising youth unemployment.

On the other hand, Gmarket faces tough competition in South Korea's e-commerce market, which ranks as the fourth largest globally according to Euromonitor. In addition to local giants like Coupang and Naver, Gmarket also contends with pressures from Chinese competitors such as AliExpress and Temu.