Competition Issues of the Distribution 4.0 Era

Based on the 4th industrial revolution technology, the distribution environment is changing with the continuous growth of mobile shopping and online, and is entering into the “distribution 4.0 era.” On the basis of bold convergence, transformation, and new technology investments that transcend their businesses, distributors in the era of distribution 4.0 are transforming into platform operators. Based on the information of producers and consumers, these distributors (platform operators) endeavor to create values. Due to the advent of the distribution 4.0 era, the distribution industry is expected to increase efficiency and greatly lower transaction costs. In the distribution industry, it is also likely that information asymmetry between manufacturers and customers will be significantly reduced. In the near future, more companies will be able to participate in the online business or incorporate new technologies into existing distribution businesses, which will accelerate the digitalization of the distribution industry. On the other hand, the OECD held a roundtable meeting in June 2018 as the winner-take-all phenomenon was observed in the global distribution market, and conducted a ‘Background review and basic discussion on the application of competition policy in the field of E-commerce’. In addition, the OECD published “the Implications of E-commerce for Competition Policy-Background Note”. This report examines the competitive landscape in the online market and addresses competition and distribution issues that can arise in rapidly expanding and highly innovative fields. In Korea, as the characteristics of the distribution 4.0 era appear in the distribution market, there is a need for a new perspective change in terms of maintenance of relevant laws and regulations. In particular, serious discussions are underway on whether online transactions require the application of flexible elements that are different from conventional offline sales. Given the full understanding of the innovation distribution market, it is possible to formulate competition/distribution theory and improve consumer welfare in line with the new distribution market.