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Press Release
Announces official opening of online fashion shopping mall named `qianxun.com`, mainly targeting high purchasing power consumers in their 20s and 30s
Offers apparel and fashion items from Korea, U.S., and Europe, and plans to expand the range of offerings to include cosmetics, travel products and cultural items
Seoul, Korea, 20 April 2009 – SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, KSE: 017670) announced its launch of an online shopping mall named qianxun.com (千寻网, www.qianxun.com) in China, marking its full-fledged entry into the Chinese online shopping market.
qianxun.com is an online fashion mall that provides cross-border shopping services by offering a wide range of apparel and fashion products from Korea, U.S. and Europe, and primarily targets urban high purchasing power customers in their 20s and 30s.
In December 2008, SK Telecom acquired PRMAX, the Chinese subsidiary of Korea Center, which supports set up and operation of online shopping malls. Then the company went through a total reorganization of PRMAX’s online shopping website to launch qianxun.com.
Korea Center and WizWid - an online shopping mall that serves as a purchasing agency- will also join the company’s online business by sourcing products from Korea and U.S. and Europe, respectively.
The company plans to achieve RMB 100 million (KRW 19 billion) in sales by widening its product offerings to include other fashion-related items, cosmetics, travel products and cultural items to turn qianxun.com into one of the leading internet shopping malls in China within 5 years.
Seok-Hwan Lee, president of SK Telecom China Holding Company said, "SK Telecom will work to make qianxun.com a leading online shopping mall offering unparalleled price, quality and customer service. To this end, the company will forge strategic partnerships and bring in local experts who have deep knowledge of the Chinese market and consumers. SK Telecom will also leverage its experience and insight from operating 11st (an online shopping mall at www.11st.co.kr) in the Korean domestic market so as to create a new differentiated online shopping mall."
Meanwhile, the future of online shopping mall is promising given that the e-commerce market in China is growing at an average annual rate of 75% and the total sales of fashion products amounted to over KRW 5 trillion in 2008, increasing by 137% compared to the previous year.