Qoo10 was a

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

platform, formerly known as GMarket, headquartered in Singapore. It operates localized

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

s across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia,

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and on one international online marketplace. It optimizes its platform and services for

small and medium enterprise Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

merchants.

History

Qoo10 was founded as a subsidiary of Qoo10 Pte. Ltd., in 2010 by Giosis Pte. Ltd., a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Gmarket founder Ku Young Bae and

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

. Gmarket was founded in South Korea in 2000 as a subsidiary of Interpark. In December 2007, Gmarket was established in Japan. Gmarket was next established in Singapore in December 2008. In April 2009, Ku Young Bae sold Gmarket to eBay. In May 2010, Giosis Pte. Ltd. was established as a joint venture between Ku and eBay to further develop Singapore and Japan marketplaces, and expand in the region. In March and April 2011, Gmarket was established in Indonesia and Malaysia respectively. In September, Gmarket launched its global marketplace. In May 2012, Gmarket was rebranded as Qoo10. In January 2013, Qoo10 was established in China. In January 2015, Qoo10 was established in Hong Kong.. In July, Giosis raises US$82.1 million in series a funding from

Singapore Press Holdings Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) was one of Singapore's two state media companies, which published ''The Straits Times'', numerous other newspapers and operated radio, television and digital media. In 2021, the media division was spun ...

Oak Investment Partners Oak Investment Partners is a private equity firm focusing on venture capital investments in companies developing communications systems, information technology, new Internet media, Health care, healthcare services, and retail. History The firm, ...

, Saban Capital Group, Brookside Capital, and UVM 2 Venture Investments The company stated their intention to use the funds to accelerate Qoo10's technology growth and service development, while investing in additional infrastructure and talent acquisition. In April 2018, eBay completed acquisition of Giosis Private Limited and its Japan properties, including , which will operate independently from other Qoo10 sites. eBay relinquished its stakes in Giosis' non-Japanese businesses, which moved under newly established parent company, Qoo10 Pvt. Ltd. In October 2019, Qoo10 acquired

ShopClues ShopClues is an Indian online marketplace, owned by Clues Network Pvt. Ltd. The company was established in July 2011 by Sanjay Sethi, Sandeep Aggarwal and Radhika Aggarwal. In 2015, ShopClues was valued at US$1.1 billion, with Tiger Global, Hel ...

, an Indian e-commerce platform. Logo us

In February 2024, Qoo10 acquired Wish.com, an American e-commerce platform for approximately $173 million. At that time, the Qoo10.com site rebranded the logo from Qoo10 to Wish+. But the Tmon and WeMakePrice refund issue cause the name to be retracted to Qoo10. In August 2024, Qoo10 reportedly cut over 80% of its workforce in Singapore. This restructuring followed reports of financial instability within Qoo10's South Korean operations, where the platform had allegedly defaulted on payments to local merchants and consumers in July 2024. The payment delays, aggravated by the retrenchments of account managers, prompted several merchants to file small claims and police reports. In September 2024, the

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...

ordered Qoo10 to suspend payment services in Singapore, due to excessive unfulfilled orders and payment obligations to merchants and customers. Qoo10 also ceased operations in Malaysia, shutting down its Malaysian platform, ''Qoo10.my'', as part of its broader effort to consolidate resources amidst its financial difficulties. On 11 November 2024, Qoo10 was ordered to wind up in Singapore after the Singapore High Court found the company to be insolvent.

Awards and recognition

* Qoo10 was named as the "Best Online Retailer" at ''AsiaOne's People Choices Awards'', 2015 & 2016. * In January 2016, Qoo10 was ranked 4th among 259 local and global brands with the most positive image, just after

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

Apple iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphone, smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The iPhone (1st generation), first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and ...

and

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

. * In 2016, Qoo10 was voted "Best Electronics Shopping Portal" at ''Tech Awards'' 2016 organized by Singaporean tech magazine HWM and HardwareZone. * In 2017, CGS-CIMB and Euromonitor statistics figured Qoo10 Singapore captured 32.6% of market share in Singapore's e-commerce market. * Data insights from metasearch engine iPrice showed that Qoo10 consistently holds the top spot for monthly user website visits among e-commerce platforms in Singapore.

References

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External links

Qoo10 Singapore
Online marketplaces of Singapore Retail companies established in 2010 Internet properties established in 2010 Singaporean companies established in 2010 Singaporean brands