Cafe24 said on Tuesday it recorded a 36 percent conversion rate for service adoption within two months of launching its “K-Manufacturing Smart E-commerce Innovation Project” to support direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce innovation for South Korean manufacturers.

Since launching the project in January through recently, Cafe24 provided strategic consulting to a total of 157 manufacturers, and 56 companies adopted the service. The company said its innovative technology and one-stop platform are working as practical competitiveness on manufacturing sites. It said manufacturers are seeking a growth breakthrough by shifting to D2C amid structural limits such as high platform fees and lack of customer data.

The K-Manufacturing Smart E-commerce Innovation Project is an industry-specific digital transformation programme to identify and support South Korean manufacturers that have strong manufacturing capabilities but face difficulties expanding consumer touchpoints.

The company said the 56 manufacturers that completed service adoption are not concentrated in a specific sector and are evenly distributed across 10 industries. It said this confirmed demand for D2C shifts across manufacturing. By category, food accounted for the largest share at 51.8 percent. It was followed by living and health at 16.1 percent, fashion apparel at 14.3 percent, beauty, pet supplies and fashion accessories at 3.6 percent each, and automotive supplies, stationery and office supplies, furniture and home decor, and maternity and baby and children at 1.8 percent each.

Manufacturers participating in the project adopted tailored solutions, including Cafe24’s premium service Cafe24 Pro (PRO). They also selected and applied operating models optimised for each company’s management environment and business stage. By business model, the programme comprised an “operations type,” in which specialists support overall operations, at 55 companies, a “traffic type,” focused on advertising and marketing performance, at 15 companies, and an “expansion type,” using a creator network to expand sales touchpoints, at 3 companies. Some companies are using multiple services in parallel.

The company said firms that had remained in a traditional manufacturing-centred structure are improving profitability and operating efficiency at the same time by shifting to D2C. Deulkkotjam, a maker of natural-healing heated products, posted a 114.5 percent rise in sales from the previous month after the project was applied. It also confirmed improvement effects in operating and marketing efficiency. Park Hee-yeon (박희연), Deulkkotjam’s chief executive, said, "I was confident in producing products, but digital marketing and using data were very difficult," and added, "Through collaboration with Cafe24, we discovered new market opportunities and created a turning point for growth."

Ogre, a specialist manufacturer of brown rice processed foods and protein shakes, also saw results across key indicators after joining the project, including increases in visitors and orders and improved conversion rates. More recently, it recorded a ROAS (return on advertising spend) of 196 percent and is continuing its growth trend. Jang Jong-hyun (장종현), Ogre’s chief executive, said, "Through Cafe24’s professional support, our brand competitiveness is strengthening and the overall business flow is changing positively," and added, "We have high expectations for expanding results going forward."

Cafe24 said it plans to expand the project on an all-front basis based on these results. It said it will strengthen support so more manufacturers can build a D2C structure centred on their own online stores and advance into global markets.

Lee Jae-seok (이재석), Cafe24’s chief executive, said, "The 36 percent adoption conversion rate shows that manufacturers’ shift to D2C is no longer an option but an essential strategy," and added, "As a priming force leading South Korea’s manufacturing industry’s e-commerce shift, we will accelerate structural transformation across the industry."