What: Local e-commerce companies are starting to see their sales growth stagnate this year, amid intensifying competition as more firms enter the rapidly growing online retail sector.

Why it is important: E-commerce operators had previously been growing by at least 20% to 30% each year, but the rate slowed to 12% in February from a year ago, according to data released by Statistics Korea.

Coupang, the country's largest e-commerce firm established in 2010, has grown by nearly 30% every year based on its overnight delivery system with some 100 distribution centers around the country. Its losses also accumulated to over 6 trillion won due to construction costs for more logistics centers, but it still plans to build more. In order to do so, it has to make a turnaround by 2024. This is why it has increased its paid membership fees.

In 2021, SSG.com, Shinsegae Group's e-commerce unit, was up by 22% year-on-year. However, SSG.com is concerned as eBay Korea which is failing to create big synergy its other retail units.

Lotte Group's online shopping mall Lotte ON is still struggling to make its presence known in the e-commerce scene. Its revenue showed a 22.7% increase in the fourth quarter of last year, but there was no prominent driving force.

Korean e-commerce explosive growth comes to end