11st rakes in record $3.7 billion for half-year

SK Planet e-commerce platform 11st in South Korea has posted a transaction record of 4.2 trillion won (US$3.7 billion) for its first half, much of the activity being on its mobile platforms.

This is 10 per cent up from the same period last year, and a 52 per cent jump from two years ago. By comparison, 11st posted 4.6 trillion won worth of business for the entire year in 2012.

SK Planet credits its “mobile first” strategy for the result. In the second quarter, mobile shopping overtook computer to reach 61 per cent of transactions for the first time.

“It means digital shopping at 11st has shifted from PC to mobile,” says the company.

SK Planet’s mobile services include a chatbot to help customers, and automatic membership renewal for mobile users. From May, 11st users have been able to pick online purchases at select CU convenience stores.

This month, 11st launched a service that lets repeat customers of baby formula reorder with the push of a button.

On the back of such services, says the company, it has been able to achieve the highest number of average monthly unique visitors to its mobile app in the first half. It had a monthly average of 8.1 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen Koreanclick, which measures app traffic. It was followed by Coupang with 6.4 million and TMon with 5.6 million visitors.

SK Planet says 11st’s operating loss in the second quarter went down by 60 per cent compared to the same period last year. The company, which also offers diverse mobile payment services, had an operating loss of 360 billion won last year, half of which was generated from 11st.

“11st recorded the highest transaction amount last year and is continuing the momentum this year,” says business division executive VP Jang Jin-hyuk.

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