<Anchor>



Interpark, a first-generation e-commerce company that was once a symbol of innovation, has been put up for sale. The e-commerce market is being reorganized as companies with strengths in IT investment and fast delivery are changing the game.



This is reporter Jeon Yeon-nam.



<Reporter>



In 1996, Interpark pioneered the era of e-commerce by launching the first Internet shopping service in Korea.



Although it has grown mainly in the performance and book sectors, it has finally decided to sell it due to sluggish performance, such as recording a big loss last year.



[Interpark official: In the e-commerce market, mergers and acquisitions are in full swing. The background is changing a lot. The sale that we are pursuing is to take the company a little bigger.]



Ebay Korea, which operates Gmarket, was acquired by Shinsegae Group last month, and mid-sized companies such as Timon and WeMakep are also struggling.



The reason these first-generation e-commerce companies have reached their limits is because they failed to transform.



In a situation where general shopping malls are becoming mainstream, we stayed in specialized services such as travel, performances, and books.



In addition, non-face-to-face consumption is the trend as the main customers are expanding from the younger generation to those in their 40s to 60s, but they have fallen behind in 'speed', which has become the core of competition.



[Seo Yong-gu/Professor of Economics, Sookmyung Women's University: How to ship quickly? This is the only thing that depends on competitiveness right now. The first generation of Internet companies had difficulty following the mobile-based platform business model (they are leaving)]



The market was reorganized with strong players such as Coupang, which attracted huge investment, Naver Shopping based on a huge platform, and SSG, where a large distribution company aggressively expanded its business, making it difficult to fight bloody competition.



Even 11st, which is a subsidiary of the telecommunication giant SKT, which seeks to survive on its own through cooperation with Amazon, turned into a loss last year and is losing the competition.



(Video coverage: Kim Seong-il, video editing: Won-hee Won)