The two South Korean retailers has entered separate bids for eBay’s South Korean business, the companies announced on Monday.
According to Euromonitor, eBay Korea is South Korea’s third-largest e-commerce firmwith a 12,8 per cent market share in 2020 and is on sale for what eBay hopes could be up to five trillion won, equivalent to $4.5bn.
Local retail giants Lotte and Shinsegae have struggled to catch up to leading competitors like South Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce firm Coupang in the fast-growing online shopping sector, especially after the onset of Covid-19.
South Korea’s online shopping transactions were worth 161 trillion won in 2020, accounting for a record 27.2 per cent of total retail transactions, up from 21.4 per cent in 2019.
