[Young journalist Ahin Yi] According to Cafe24, inventory is no longer just merchandise sitting in a warehouse. It has become a key source of data that directly influences advertising efficiency and sales. As a result, the way online shopping malls are managed is evolving. On the 1st, Cafe24 announced that online stores adopting its AI-powered Inventory-based Marketing (AIM) service, which integrates real-time inventory data into advertising operations have improved their inventory turnover efficiency.

Inventory-based Marketing is a service that analyzes product inventory levels and sales trends in real time and reflects that information in advertising campaigns. Products with sufficient stock receive increased advertising exposure, while products nearing stock depletion have their exposure reduced, enabling merchants to use their advertising budgets more efficiently.

The online shopping mall management team’s inventory management a challenge that has been difficult to solve for a long time. The items that were almost out of stock were always on the ads and the ones that had a lot in stock weren't shown in ads, which created unnecessary advertisement fees in many cases. Their original method of handling the advertisements and inventory separately has shown a boundary, and they are leaning toward a production environment where they analyze the product and the actual stock of that product together. In line with this trend, Cafe24 provides an operating environment that analyzes advertising performance alongside inventory data. According to the company, faster inventory turnover allows merchants to recover sales revenue more quickly, enabling them to reinvest those funds in new product development or additional marketing initiatives.

One example is the women's fashion online store Meriet, which linked inventory analysis with its ordering process after adopting AIM. As a result, its inventory turnover rate more than doubled, increasing from 9.2 to 20.7 times. Meanwhile, the average inventory depletion period was reduced by more than half, from 39.8 days to 17.6 days. 

Meriet CEO Ji-su Yoo said, “By analyzing inventory and purchase order data together, we were able to respond to surges in demand without running out of stock. We generated more sales from the same inventory while actually reducing the risk of stockouts.” This trend was observed not only in individual cases but also across online stores that adopted the service.

Cafe24 compared performance before and after implementation among online stores connected to a Warehouse Management System (WMS) that enables real-time inventory analysis. The results showed that the average inventory turnover rate increased by 12%, while the average inventory depletion period decreased by 22%. According to the company, faster inventory turnover also made it easier for merchants to plan and prepare inventory for upcoming seasonal products.

Looking ahead, Cafe24 plans to continue enhancing its marketing services by further linking advertising operations with product and inventory data. A company representative said, “The competitiveness of an online store depends not only on how effectively it runs advertising campaigns, but also on how efficiently it utilizes data. We will continue strengthening our integrated operating environment by connecting sales, inventory, and advertising data. 

▶원문 기사: 재고가 마케팅이 됐다…카페24, 쇼핑몰 운영 공식 바꾼다 (이코노미스트, 2026. 7. 1)
 

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