We have moved our Korean office to GIDC near Gwangmyeong Station. It’s a great location with CGV located in the basement of the building and Costco, IKEA, Lotte Mall, and others right next door. As it is a new construction, there are still many vacant spaces, and we plan to expand further within this year. This move is not just an expansion of space but a significant step for ECOM-US in many ways. Therefore, even though it may be a bit early, we name today, March 1st, as the beginning of ECOM-US version 2.0.
First, we are starting our fulfillment service for our clients with our own warehouse, which allows 24-hour air conditioning and temperature control. The synergy when e-commerce and logistics operations are carried out in one place is tremendous. No matter how well online sales are done, if the logistics are not perfect, the money earned upfront could all go to waste later. Conversely, even if the logistics are 100% accurate, it means nothing if the sales do not come in. These two must be seamlessly connected, like water flowing, to complete the main axis of e-commerce. When we recall the enormous investment that Coupang made in its logistics centers over the past 10 years to gain dominance in the Korean e-commerce market, we can understand the importance of logistics in e-commerce.
Second, we are recruiting talents at a high level suitable for global brand clients. Given that we are located in Gwangmyeong Station, which is close to Seoul and the Gyeonggi area, we believe that transportation will not be a problem for employees’ commute. As mentioned earlier, the building is a large-scale new construction with various commercial spaces, so our employees can confidently say where they commute to work. We are planning to hire employees for various positions in the near future.
Third, it is the point of contact with our clients. Initially, when the company was founded, I had the thought of “Why should we meet face-to-face when e-commerce is done online anyway?” However, over time, I came to know that many of our clients prefer face-to-face meetings. Especially for customers who expressed a desire to visit our office, although it might be inconvenient and modest, we used to ask for your understanding and our employees used to visit the clients, but now you can come and see for yourself.
This year, ECOM-US aims for more than a 10-fold growth in operating profit compared to the previous year. We know that the company has grown and can dream of challenging goals over the past eight months, all thanks to the trust of our customers and the efforts of our team. At this moment of introducing ECOM-US 2.0, we are already envisioning 3.0. We will run like crazy once again to present version 3.0 before the end of the year, eight months from now.
<Image Source: Gwangmyeong GIDC>