Cafe24 (042000.KQ), a Korean e-commerce platform provider, said Wednesday that its "K-Manufacturing Smart E-Commerce Innovation Project," which supports domestic manufacturers' direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales transformation, recorded a service adoption conversion rate of 36% within two months of launch.
Since launching the project in January, Cafe24 has provided strategic e-commerce consulting to a total of 157 manufacturers. As a result, 56 companies adopted Cafe24's enterprise solutions. The figure exceeds the typical conversion rate in the business-to-business (B2B) industry. Cafe24 said the company's technology capabilities and one-stop platform proved to be a practical competitive advantage on the manufacturing floor. The company also interpreted the results as an indicator that manufacturers had strong demand for D2C transformation centered on their own branded online stores.
The 56 manufacturers that completed service adoption are evenly distributed across all industry sectors. By sector, food accounted for the highest share at 51.8%, followed by lifestyle and health (16.1%), fashion apparel (14.3%), beauty, pet products (3.6%), and fashion accessories (3.6%).
Participating manufacturers actively adopted customized solutions including "Cafe24 Pro," the company's premium service. Companies in the project succeeded in simultaneously improving profitability and operational efficiency through D2C transformation. Deulkkotjam, a natural healing thermal product manufacturer, saw its sales increase 114.5% month-on-month after applying the project. Ograe, a brown rice processed food manufacturer, recorded a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 196%, demonstrating a growth trajectory.
Cafe24's K-Manufacturing Smart E-Commerce Innovation Project is an industry-specific digital transformation initiative designed to discover and support domestic manufacturers that possess strong manufacturing capabilities but struggle to expand consumer touchpoints. Key support areas include building smart e-commerce operating systems, Cafe24 Pro-based system support, and data-driven operational support.
"As this project serves as a catalyst for the e-commerce transformation of Korea's manufacturing industry, it will accelerate structural transformation across the sector," Cafe24 CEO Lee Jae-seok said.