Marpple Shop, an online marketplace for creators and artists in South Korea, is gaining attention as a trailblazer in the creator economy, fostering collaborations with prominent YouTubers.

The platform, operated by Marpple Corp., offers over 3,000 products, including clothing, slippers, smartphone accessories, and stationery.

What sets Marpple Shop apart is its ability to print customer-designed graphics on these products, functioning akin to a promotional merchandise company.

The key difference lies in the flexibility to fulfill even small quantity orders ? a single item can be produced and sold, catering to the rising demand among millennials and young adults.

Park Hye-yun, chief executive of Marpple, founded the company in 2007 with the first store located in front of Hongik University in Mapo-gu, northern Seoul.

Park says that the motivation behind the venture was to satisfy people’s desire to have something uniquely tailored to their preferences.

During its inception, the character market in Korea was not as substantial. However, the popularity of webcomics and animations led to a growing customer base seeking personalized character merchandise.

The surge in demand was further fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, as more people turned to consuming various content from the comfort of their homes.

Marpple Shop’s revenue, which was 18.6 billion won ($14 million) in 2022, doubled last year.

One of Marpple Shop’s strengths lies in its inventory-free business model. Customers can utilize the Marpple app to apply their desired designs to the products within the virtual space provided by the app.

If satisfied with the result, they can place an order, and if not, they have the option to refrain from doing so.

Marpple Shop produces the items only after receiving customer orders, eliminating the need to pre-produce and stock products.

Marpple operates its automated production facility in Gasan-dong, western Seoul.

Since the rise of YouTube as a dominant content consumption platform, Marpple Shop has actively collaborated with YouTube creators.

The platform facilitates the creation and sale of goods using the intellectual property of YouTubers on their channels.

Marpple Shop also supports YouTubers in establishing brand commerce through collaborations. Recently, the company was designated as one of the only two Platform Partners for YouTube in the country.

By Kim Dong-eun and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]