Cafe24 said on Feb. 12 that its 'Cafe24 Pro (PRO) Community Center' recorded about 70 visitors in the month after opening on Jan. 7, with a satisfaction score of 3.8 out of 4. The company said total applicants exceeded 100 over the period, drawing attention as a practical startup support space for online business operators.

The Pro Community Center in Dongdaemun is an open offline space for online business operators and prospective entrepreneurs. It expands an existing online-focused startup support system into an offline setting, lowering entry barriers in the early stages of starting a business. With resident e-commerce experts, it helps visitors experience Cafe24 Pro directly and apply it immediately to their businesses.

The company said visitors highly rated the ability to resolve issues on site with experts that were hard to understand through online materials alone.

The center's core is a 'real-time startup support system'. With help from on-site experts, visitors can immediately complete procedures to open an online store. They can also follow along while watching product registration, basic settings and detailed page creation. Reviews said initial setup and operating processes that felt difficult alone were resolved on site, significantly reducing anxiety and burden in the early stages of starting a business.

It also provides tailored consulting to strengthen professional operating capabilities. Users can receive guidance on premium functions of the Cafe24 Pro service, including search engine optimization (SEO), customer relationship management (CRM) marketing and domestic and overseas marketplace expansion features. It also supports essential administrative and technical settings on site, including identity verification, domain connection, electronic payment (PG) registration and applying brand-optimized designs, areas prospective entrepreneurs find difficult.

Cafe24 said it plans to expand webinars and video training to provide more business operators with professional education opportunities. It will systematize on-site startup know-how and frequently asked questions and produce them as online education content. It will also build an environment in which users can receive expert advice regardless of time and location through regular webinars.

The company said it expects business operators in regions where it is difficult to visit offline will also be able to receive Cafe24's professional support.

Cafe24 Chief Executive Lee Jae-seok (이재석) said, "The Cafe24 Pro Community Center is a space that helps relieve the uncertainty of the early startup stage and enables users to draw the full picture of operating an online shopping mall." He added, "We will expand experiences proven on site into online content and webinars to support more business operators so they can start online businesses without 부담."