Industry

Cafe24 says food and beauty sales on D2C malls jump 44 percent and 38 percent in two years

Food and beauty have emerged as key growth drivers in South Korea\'s direct-to-consumer market, Cafe24 said. Based on its shopping mall transaction data for the first half of 2026, food and beauty transaction values rose 43.8 percent and 38.0 percent over the past two years, ranking first and second by growth rate. Both sectors set record highs for five consecutive half-year periods, lifting their combined share to 28.3 percent.

Games & Commerce

Kakao union to hold picket protest as KakaoBank joins

Kakao\'s labour union will hold an in-house picket protest at the company’s Pangyo campus around noon on Tuesday, using lunchtime, industry officials said. The KakaoBank union will also join after wage talks stalled and a local labour commission decided to halt mediation. The protest will be voluntary and limited to picketing, with no rally or march planned, so direct impact on services is expected to be limited.