Cafe24 said on March 9 that annual total transaction value at its Cafe24 Store last year came to about 67.9 billion won, up about 66 percent from a year earlier, when it recorded 40.8 billion won. Cafe24 Store is an app marketplace dedicated to e-commerce.

Over the same period, cumulative app downloads totalled 264,517. That was up 60.35 percent from a year earlier, when it recorded 164,961.

Cafe24 Store is an app marketplace that allows online operators to immediately apply the latest e-commerce features to their own shopping malls. It is used in a way similar to smartphone users downloading and applying needed functions from mobile app marketplaces such as Google Play and the App Store. Operators without development knowledge or with insufficient staff can also introduce advanced functions such as AI-based product recommendations, customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation.

The company pointed to the spread of AI technology as a factor behind Cafe24 Store's growth. It said the environment has been created in which advanced functions can be developed quickly using AI tools and supplied to e-commerce operators, leading to a sharp rise in partner developers newly entering the market.

According to Cafe24, apps that apply AI technology account for about 20 percent of all apps. In addition to core solutions where it has previously shown strength, including marketing, logistics, payments and inventory management, apps have been launched across various areas including AI, data analysis and CRM.

Cafe24 provides application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) needed for developing various functions, and it operates a developer-only portal and documents to promote new developers' entry into the ecosystem. Online operators can apply the latest technology to their shopping malls with just a few clicks, without separate development staff, to improve business competitiveness.

Cafe24 CEO Jae-seok Lee (이재석) said, "The sharp growth in Cafe24 Store's annual transaction value is an achievement made together by online operators and partner developers." He added, "As we enter an era in which AI becomes part of everyday life, we will expand the ecosystem and strengthen support so that all online operators can easily enjoy the benefits of advanced technology."