In Singapore, Qoo10 took on Lazada and won. Can it do the same to Tokopedia in Indonesia?

Founded by South Korean entrepreneur Ku Young-bae, Qoo10 is the Lion City’s top online shopping site despite the deeper pockets of its competitors

Now, the little company that could is expanding into Malaysia and Indonesia

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Ku Young-bae, founder and CEO of Qoo10. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:15am, 20 May 2019Updated: 9:15am, 20 May 2019

In the relatively young, fast-growing and dynamic world of online shopping, Ku Young-bae is considered an industry veteran.

The South Korean serial entrepreneur is best known for launching Gmarket in 1999 – the country’s answer to eBay at the time.

A decade later, he had sold the business to eBay itself and pivoted to Singapore with his latest e-commerce success story Qoo10. Pronounced Q-10, the platform enables consumers to shop for everything from cosmetics to powdered milk, clothing and furniture sold by a range of small and medium-sized merchants and manufacturers from across Asia.

“My mindset is old-school compared to some of the new entrepreneurs who are a lot more aggressive and confident,” said Ku, 53, recounting the slow, careful way he built up Qoo10.

Lazada employees fill orders at a warehouse in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

The likes of China’s Taobao and Singapore-based Lazada – both owned by Alibaba, parent company of the South China Morning Post – “can focus on scaling up quickly, regardless of how much money they lose … but I can’t go about it that way,” Ku said.

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