韓國電商Gmarket涉足旅遊業, 推出當地玩樂產品
Korean e-commerce Gmarket enters travel industry, launching local activities

海擇短評 Haize Comment：

近期韓國購物電商Gmarket宣布將在暑期旅遊旺季前開通"旅遊及門票預訂服務"，推出境內外的當地玩樂產品。目前以全球範圍來看，從電子商務進入旅遊市場的高流量公司並沒有做得非常好的，eBay(NASDAQ: EBAY)與Sea(NYSE: SE)旗下的Shopee都僅在少數國家/地域推出旅遊產品，也不算有驚人的表現。

Gmarket(KRX: 139480)成立於1999年，原為韓國Interpark的子公司，定位為電子商務網站。該公司在2000年從Interpark獨立，更名為Goodsdaq；並於2003年再更名為Gmarket，商業模式為類似eBay的C2C電子商務，同時也在2006年赴美IPO，成為第一家在美國納斯達克上市的韓國網路公司。而後，公司在2009年被eBay收購後由納斯達克退市，最後以3.4兆韓元的收購價賣給韓國新世界集團(Shinsegae Group, KRX: 004170)。

與多數電商集團在進入旅遊市場時就推出一站式產品不同，Gmarket目前推出的產品線並不涵蓋機票與住宿，反而是先從當地玩樂產品做起，初期的SKU約10,000種。據說明，當地玩樂類產品涵蓋境內外的交通卡、主題樂園門票與目的地活動體驗，代表產品有"日本環球影城"、"宿霧鯨鯊共游"、"巴黎羅浮宮門票"；境外的定位為日本、東南亞、大洋洲、香港、台灣、歐洲、美國等熱門旅遊目的地，公司說明優勢在於"10％立減"與"現場即時預訂(亦即不需要提前時間)"。當地玩樂有涵蓋目的地參團，該類產品有一定程度的客製化，用戶可以用條件搜尋來查看價格、出發次數、導覽語言、旅行時間、顧客評價...等等，並能用日期查看和比較即時價格。

相對於布局機票與住宿產品，電商公司進入旅遊市場初期只提供目的地相關產品則輕得多，很多產品更為標準化，也較容易區分與釐清供應商與用戶間的責任；至於是否能跳脫電商難以做好旅遊產品的魔咒，相信暑假過後就能有初步數據可以觀察。

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Recently, Korean e-commerce platform Gmarket announced the launch of a "Travel and Ticket Booking Service" before the summer travel peak season, offering local experiences both domestically and internationally. Globally, e-commerce companies venturing into the travel market, like eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and Sea's (NYSE: SE) Shopee, have not performed exceptionally well, only offering travel products in a limited number of regions.

Founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Korean Interpark, Gmarket (KRX: 139480) initially positioned itself as an e-commerce website. It became independent from Interpark in 2000, renamed as Goodsdaq, and was rebranded to Gmarket in 2003, adopting a C2C business model similar to eBay. In 2006, Gmarket was the first Korean internet company to IPO on NASDAQ. It was delisted after being acquired by eBay in 2009, and later sold to South Korea's Shinsegae Group (KRX: 004170) for 3.4 trillion Korean Won.

Unlike many e-commerce groups that launch comprehensive travel products, Gmarket has introduced a product line that focuses solely on local experiences without including flights and accommodations. Initially, the SKU includes about 10,000 types of local experience products such as transportation cards, theme park tickets, and destination activity experiences. Featured products include "Universal Studios Japan," "Swimming with Whale Sharks in Cebu," and "Louvre Museum Tickets in Paris." The offerings target popular travel destinations like Japan, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe, and the USA. Gmarket highlights advantages like a "10% instant discount" and "on-site instant booking," which requires no advance planning. These local activities include group tours at destinations with some customization options available, allowing users to search by various criteria such as price, departure frequency, tour language, travel duration, and customer reviews, and compare real-time prices by date. 

Compared to integrating flights and accommodations, e-commerce companies entering the travel market with destination-specific products face a lighter challenge. Many of these products are more standardized and it's easier to clarify responsibilities between suppliers and users. Whether they can break the curse of e-commerce struggling with travel products will likely be evident from preliminary data available after the summer vacation.

標籤 Label： E-commerce  Tourism  Experience  NASDAQ: EBAY  NYSE: SE