CJ OnStyle's "Big Bet" on Creator Commerce... Targets 35-Fold Growth in Five Years

Building a Commerce Ecosystem Connecting Creators and Brands
Nurturing 100,000 Creators by 2030
End-to-End Support From Product Planning to Content and Logistics
Creator Commerce GMV Expected to Grow 3.3-Fold This Year

CJ OnStyle is moving beyond its traditional retail model of sourcing and selling products itself, and is making a platform business that connects creators with brands a new pillar of growth. The platform will provide external creators and small and midsize brands with infrastructure spanning the entire retail process, from product planning and content production to sales and delivery. The company aims to increase creator commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) to 35 times last year's level by 2030 and nurture 100,000 creators specializing in commerce.

CJ OnStyle, operated by the Commerce Division of CJ ENM, announced its "NEXT Content Commerce" growth strategy at the media day for Creator Commerce Festival Korea (CCFK) 2026, held at COEX in Seoul on October 22.

"In the past, the process was linear: people became aware of a product, looked into it, then visited a store to make a purchase. Now we are in an era when the content itself becomes the store," said Sung Donghun, head of the Platform Division at CJ ENM's Commerce Division. "We will use data to turn the matching of brands and creators, which people have done manually until now, into a platform."

Seong Donghun, head of the Platform Division at CJ ENM Commerce, presents the strategy at the media day for the Creator Commerce Festival Korea (CCFK) 2026, held at COEX in Seoul on the 22nd. CJ OnStyle

Advancing AI Matching With "ONTNER"... From Product Planning to Global Markets

At the core of the business transformation is ONTNER, a creator-matching platform launched in September. It supports the entire process, from the stage at which brands and creators look for collaborators to product planning, content production, sales, settlements, delivery, and customer service (CS). The plan is for CJ OnStyle to support individual creators with product sourcing and retail operations that would be difficult for them to manage on their own.

In particular, the company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the matching of brands and creators. It combines three types of data: engagement data from social media (SNS) users, analysis of creators' content, and actual purchase and conversion data held by CJ OnStyle. The company will also draw on the content-production capabilities of more than 100 professional producers. It is developing technology to analyze short-form content across five stages and 500 attributes to understand how consumers select content and progress to making purchases.

"Until now, merchandisers and producers have painstakingly matched products with creators one by one," Sung said. "As more data accumulates, the proportion of matches made automatically will increase significantly." He added, "Ultimately, we aim for a ratio of about nine to one between AI and people. Even when AI makes a match, a person must still review it at the final stage."

Another key strategy is to develop creators from product promoters and sellers into business owners with their own brands. For creators with smaller followings, the company will offer opportunities to monetize through product matching and affiliate marketing. For creators who have grown their audiences, it will support the development of exclusive products and the commercialization of their brands. Through its "OnQubating" program, the company also plans to provide initial funding and business coaching to help creators launch their own brands.

"Creators want exclusive products, IP-based products, and premium products that involve a high level of consideration," Sung said. "CJ OnStyle's differentiating strength lies in its ability to co-develop these products and build them into brands."

A guest talk is underway at the media day for the Creator Commerce Festival Korea (CCFK) 2026, held at COEX in Seoul on the 22nd. (From left: Head of the Platform Division, Commerce Business Unit, CJ ENM; Kim Dohyun, professor in the School of Business Administration at Kookmin University; and Park Hyunseon, CEO of Lavien.) Photo by Han Yeju

English Textbook Sales Rise 20-Fold... Collaborations Bring in 60-80% New Customers

CJ OnStyle said it had confirmed the business potential of creator commerce by collaborating with about 1,000 creators over the past year and a half. In one example, English-language educational materials that had sold about KRW 100 million per session were paired with content from a creator with firsthand parenting experience and expertise. Sales in a single session then rose to KRW 2 billion. New customers accounted for 60-80% of participants in the collaboration program.

In another case, the company connected a global diaper and parenting brand with a creator, generating sales of about KRW 400 million per session. The creator's follower count rose 41% over six months. CJ OnStyle also co-developed towels with a creator, generating about KRW 700 million in sales across two sessions.

Building on these results, the company expects creator commerce GMV this year to be about 3.3 times last year's level, while the number of creators it collaborates with is projected to rise about 23-fold. CJ OnStyle plans to increase creator commerce's share of total mobile content commerce GMV from 9% last year to 50% by 2030.

Kim Dohyun, a professor in the College of Business Administration at Kookmin University, who attended the event, highlighted the potential for creator commerce to reshape the existing retail structure. "Instead of the traditional structure linking manufacturers, brands, and retailers, more products will be created jointly by creators and consumers," Kim said. "CJ OnStyle's ambition to become a connector between brands and creators, going beyond TV and mobile live commerce, is a bold challenge."

A view of the venue for the Creator Commerce Festival Korea (CCFK) 2026, held at COEX in Seoul on the 22nd. CJ OnStyle.

Expanding Overseas Channels for K-Beauty and Fashion... "Establishing the Domestic Business Comes First"

CJ OnStyle plans to expand its creator commerce business model, established in South Korea, to overseas markets over the medium to long term. The company aims to support overseas sales of K-beauty, K-fashion, and K-living products by connecting domestic brands with overseas creators, and to help Korean creators enter overseas markets with their own brands. It plans to expand overseas sales channels by linking content production tailored to consumers' preferences in each country with sales and delivery.

"In the past, overseas expansion required enormous marketing costs and local subsidiaries, but now well-made content alone can spread around the world," said Park Hyunsun, CEO of Lavien. "It's important to create content suited to each country and ensure that everything from actual purchases to distribution runs smoothly."

However, rather than expanding its overseas business immediately, CJ OnStyle plans to focus on strengthening its business foundation in the domestic market. "We will first establish industry standards for creator commerce in South Korea," said Sung Donghun, head of the Platform Division at CJ ENM's Commerce Division. "We will support domestic brands and creators in expanding overseas by connecting them with the global business platform that we resumed operating in earnest this year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.