Seoul Mills: Building a Brand Through Community

The E-Commerce Landscape: Navigating a $1 Trillion Market

“In online businesses, your customers are invisible. Your job is to make them visible by making them trust you and your brand.”

In the expansive realm of US e-commerce, the market boasts a staggering $1 trillion in size. A constant churn of over 2.5 million companies coming in and out every minute creates a highly competitive environment.

So every year acquiring new customers becomes an increasingly challenging feat.

Recent findings from SimplicityDX indicate a 60% surge in customer acquisition costs over the last 5 years, turning what should be a growth strategy into a financial challenge.

Survival is the key and Cconma USA, also known as Seoul Mills, figured out how to thrive.

We sat down with the CEO of Ccomna, Donghoon Choi, to learn how they survived and thrived over the last 15 years building a successful food & beverage brand that provided comfort to so many Korean immigrants in the US.

*Note: Cconma USA is the Korean version of the site, Seoul Mills is the English version of the site

A Brand For Korean Immigrants: Cconma’s Journey into the USA

Donghoon Choi's Early Career

• Donghoon Choi started his career as a developer at Samsung SDS with no experience in e-commerce.

• He joined his mentor's community-based business building an email system capable of quickly sending out millions of emails

The Birth of Cconma

• The business evolved into a Food & Beverage brand called Cconma

• Korean immigrants in the US started requesting Cconma's services and helped Choi bring the business over

Venturing into the US

• Choi traveled to the US, talked to customers in person, and saw an opportunity to start building Cconma USA

• It took multiple iterations to determine the right location and business model with efficient distribution and shipping costs

• From 2009 to 2016, CConma USA relocated from Virginia to Washington D.C. to Southern California

• Finally, the company broke even

Setback and Resilience

• Choi faced many challenges, including a setback when a business partner was involved in embezzlement

• However, Choi was determined to continue Cconma USA

“One issue after another.. I nearly gave up. The only thing that kept me going was the fans that never stopped rooting for me and my team. It made me restructure the way I saw the issues: this is the land of opportunity and if it doesn’t work here, there’s no Cconma. I took more ownership of the company and started restructuring the team and working on the issues.”

Seizing Opportunity in Crisis: Cconma USA’s Growth During COVID

*Note: Cconma USA is the Korean version of the site, Seoul Mills is the English version of the site

The impact of COVID-19 sent shockwaves through businesses worldwide, leaving many struggling. But particularly, we saw e-commerce thrive as people turned online as they were forced to stay at home.

This was the chance for Cconma USA to grow as well.

But Cconma USA’s success during COVID wasn’t just based on luck or good timing.

Early on, Choi identified the three greatest pain points of his US customers:

1. Late shipping

2. Expensive shipping fees

3. Poor packing quality

How was this solved? When Cconma USA hit their break even point, Choi took swift action:

• Owned Shipping Process - Choi took over a local shipping company to better control distribution and quality

• Channel Talk - Partnered with Channel Talk to ensure constant communication with customers

During this time, the majority of their revenue came from their long-term customers.

And without any ad spend, Cconma USA doubled their growth rate.

The key to this success lies in Choi's commitment to customer engagement. By actively conversing with customers and cultivating relationships from the early days, he gained a deep understanding of their concerns that translated into loyalty during difficult times.

Cultivating 'Villagers' and Lasting Bonds With Channel Talk

So how did Cconma USA create such a strong bond with their customers?

By building a community with the help of Channel Talk.

In the world of Cconma USA, their top VIPs aren't just customers; they're called 'villagers.’

‘Villagers’ are split into tiered membership levels based on purchase amount and receive exceptional customer.

Through Channel Talk’s CRM feature - Ccconma USA was able to segment out and identify their most loyal fans and create a personalized concierge service for their VIPs.

For Choi, defining regular or VIP customers is more complex than just how much they spend.

“The relationship between a brand and customers is like a relationship. You can’t call the other person your boyfriend or girlfriend just because you like them or want them to be one. It has to be based on mutual feelings. You let them know you think of them as special but also have to give them a chance to show they care about you too.”

For brands, merely showcasing beliefs and values isn’t enough. Creating a sense of community through true care of the customer by delving into the root causes of customer issues and delivering solutions is the cornerstone of building lasting connections.

In essence, Cconma's strategy isn't just about transactions; it's about building a genuine connection, acknowledging customers as 'villagers,' and ensuring that the relationship stands the test of time.

For the People, By the People: Building Community

Customers form the core and identity of Cconma USA, as the brand's mission revolves around making their lives happier and providing things that they’re looking forward to, whether it’s a product or experience.

To ensure customer satisfaction, Cconma continuously improving their customer experience and is introducing a new platform: All Bloom.

All Bloom isn't just a community; it's a space to discover and share information about local stores, services, and meet-ups in your neighborhood.

All Bloom is focused on two areas that current platforms lack:

1. Improving the UX and experience of community apps

2. Removing the risk of potential scams and liability problems

What sets All Bloom apart is its foundation on Web3, a decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain. This architecture is designed to safeguard user information and transactions, eliminating potential risks.

Users are incentivized through rewards for sharing information and creating sub-communities, which can be redeemed at local stores and services.

Download the app below:

• App Store

• Google Play Store

Persist, Hustle, and Connect

E-commerce, as we all know, is a fiercely competitive arena.

How can you set yourself apart from competitors?

Customer experience.

Talk to your customers and understand what they think and what they are concerned about.

“If I were to go back 15 years ago, I would talk to more people and share my concerns and be more open to different opinions and ideas. It helps you see things objectively.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable at times. It will make it easy to start a conversation and widen your perspective.

And that’s how you become customer-driven and turn that into your brand’s identity which stays in people’s minds for a long time.”

Nowadays, companies chase after customer information and data points. But thinking about your customers just as numbers turns them invisible in an online world.

But the center of any business is human, it’s your customers.

To start valuing the people purchasing your product, start having conversations.

Meaningful conversations lead to regulars which lead to a flourishing business.

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