StyleShare, a fashion mobile app founded by Yoon Ja-young that targets the young generation of teens and 20-somethings, announced on March 14 that it has acquired AplusB, which was founded by Lee Chang-woo and runs online fashion mall 29CM. StyleShare acquired a 100% stake worth about 30 billion KRW (28 million USD) in AplusB from parent company GS Home Shopping through the acquisition and capital increase. GS Home Shopping will also become a major shareholder of StyleShare after the deal.
StyleShare and 29CM are strong players in the online fashion commerce market. GS Home Shopping plans to strengthen its business network as a shareholder of both companies and grow together as strategic partners.
StyleShare, which has accumulated over 5 million downloads, is widely known as a go-to fashion social network platform for young generations in their teens and 20s. Last year, the platform drew public attention by achieving 30 billion KRW (28 million USD) in sales when it introduced e-commerce. 29CM is also a mid-sized fashion mall with 30 billion KRW (28 million USD) in sales last year. It is often credited for combining magazine-like media content with commerce.
The acquisition has allowed StyleShare to project composite transactions totalling 120 billion KRW (112 million USD) this year. The combination of StyleShare, which mainly targets girls in their teens and 20s, and 29CM which primarily targets women in their 20s and 30s, has emerged as a leading power in women’s fashion ecommerce. The industry is paying close attention to the combination of the women’s fashion malls, which now corresponds to MUSINSA, the largest men’s online fashion mall.
As StyleShare and 29CM differ in customer base, they will operate their two services independently. AplusB CEO Lee Chang-woo said, “StyleShare and 29CM have clear differentiations. They focus on the community and the content, respectively. With them, we will continue to discover good brands and products and expand our customer base.”
StyleShare CEO Yoon Ja-young said, “29CM and StyleShare each create a new paradigm of mobile fashion commerce,” and continued, “We will maximize the capabilities of both companies and achieve 500 billion KRW (467 million USD) in sales by 2020.”
This article, entitled “StyleShare Acquires Online Fashion Mall 29CM“, was written in Korean by Platum, translated by Flitto, edited by AllTechAsia.