With a passion for innovation in ecommerce, eBay Senior Vice President, APAC, Jooman Park aims to strengthen eBay’s presence in Asian markets.
Jooman has been with eBay since 2002. Originally from Korea, Jooman spent two years in business school in Philadelphia. After serving as the country manager of eBay Korea for eight years, Jooman moved to Sydney to lead eBay in Australia and New Zealand. In August, Jooman took over as the lead of operations in APAC.
Jooman sat down with the eBay News Team to talk about enabling business owners, his leadership style and the untapped potential for eBay in APAC markets.
On why he loves working at eBay...
“There are many reasons why I love working for eBay, but if I pick just one, it would be our fast-moving and innovative industry. Looking back on my years at eBay, I have loved developing and building great teams with passion and pride in driving change and innovation that has a large and positive impact on our society and community. We have enabled countless businesses to seize opportunity in the new economy that includes everyone from mom-and-pop owners, to entrepreneurs, to well-known large retailers.”
On leading APAC...
“Our region is a true source of innovation. In Korea, we have introduced a number of innovations including pricing, search, payment and logistics which have become the standard for global e-commerce – all things we are very proud of. We have also pioneered e-commerce in some new categories that you don’t see in other global markets. For example, fresh food, office supplies, even food delivery are all fast growing categories for eBay Korea (Gmarket, Auction & G9). Then, in Australia, we made awesome progress in building strong partnerships with large retailers. For example, 80 of the top 100 leading retailers are selling their products on ebay.com.au.”
On his pursuits outside of work...
“When I’m not working, I spend most of my time with my family. We currently live near Bondi Beach in Sydney, which is one of the most beautiful beaches not only in Sydney but the world. Walking together along the beach is so refreshing and our favorite weekend ritual. As I relocate to Singapore, I know I am going to miss that beach a lot.”
On his leadership style...
“I always try to be a good coach and a decision-maker for my people. Though I share my previous learnings and insights, ultimately I try to empower them to make their own decisions, to own it and to lead through the execution, and to ultimately be accountable.”
On the culture in APAC…
“Over the last 15 years, APAC has built a strong culture of getting things done, so we are very focused on driving results in an eBay way. I would like to continue driving that strong APAC culture going forward.”
On the future of eBay in Asia...
“We will continue to evolve our services in our established leading markets to be able to shape the future of e-commerce in Asia. Outside of this, we also have a great opportunity to diversify our portfolio and build a stronger presence in emerging markets where we are relatively underrepresented. APAC is very dynamic and has huge potential ahead. eBay will continue to be a pioneer in e-commerce in the region.”