The image above was drawn by AI. It was generated by the AI based on the command, "Draw a picture of a blue sky with a few clouds and wild geese flying," and it did a very good job. The speed at which imagination is being turned into reality is accelerating rapidly.
Today, I'm writing with the question of which global market I should sell products to. Today marks one month and 15 days since I started creating the Hemorium shopping mall. I'm in the process of detailing the rough outline I initially had.
I started by targeting 20 markets, but I've come to realize that this was too ambitious. So, I narrowed my target to three markets. The problem of choosing two markets in addition to the Korean market has not been easily resolved. The U.S. seems to have the highest demand, but starting August 29th, the tariff exemption for small parcels ($800) in the U.S. will disappear, and a high tariff of 54% will be imposed. Therefore, I'm deliberating whether to include the U.S. market from the start or not.
Given this, which three markets should we prioritize as the most suitable for selling our products?
Markets where AliExpress operates: Approximately 200 countries, including the U.S., Spain, France, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
Markets where Temu operates: Approximately 50 countries, including 12 countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and Korea.
It hasn't been long since AliExpress and Temu expanded into so many countries. Considering the advertising expenses, various promotions, and discounts these two companies pour out, I believe going in the same direction as them would lead to certain failure.
As the landscape of overseas shopping malls, which was once vague, gradually comes into clearer view, this Hemorium wild goose hesitates for a moment, unable to decide which direction to fly.
---Shin