As the number of online sellers increases, the demand for smart logistics grows.
Pasto Opens 'Preliminary Certification Grade 1' Smart Logistics Center
Reduce service costs by 10% with proprietary AI models


The pandemic accelerated the growth of the online shopping market globally, including in Korea.

According to Statistics Korea, domestic online shopping transactions reached 161.1234 trillion won last year. This represents a 19.1% increase compared to the previous year. The top three online shopping platforms—Naver, Coupang, and eBay Korea—recorded transaction volumes of 28 trillion won, 22 trillion won, and 20 trillion won, respectively.

With the growth of the online shopping market, the number of online sellers opening and operating online shopping malls is also expected to increase rapidly. Naver, the nation's leading online shopping operator, announced that it aims to increase the number of online sellers from 450,000 last year to 1 million by 2025.

Logistics is a major concern for online sellers. It is not easy for sellers to establish their own logistics facilities or systems. Using logistics services is also not easy. To use logistics services, a deposit is mandatory, contract periods and minimum order volumes must be adhered to, and the order processing becomes cumbersome and complex. In this situation, 'fulfillment' solutions emerged.

Fulfillment is a concept that provides all logistics services through data integration, allowing online sellers to focus solely on sales; Pasto is a representative company in this field. Driven by the growth of the fulfillment market, Pasto achieved significant results in June of this year, recording a 355% increase in monthly visitors, a 1,180% increase in cumulative sign-ups, and a 770% increase in cumulative contract customers compared to January 2020.

Pasto Co., Ltd. was established in March 2018 to enable anyone to easily use logistics services. The current company name was changed from FSS Co., Ltd. in April of this year. In June of this year, Pasto opened 'Yongin Center 1,' which applies a self-developed AI logistics operation optimization system.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, together with the Korea Transport Institute, awarded Smart Logistics Center certification grades to six logistics facilities for the first time. Certification grades are assigned from 1 to 5 based on the degree of advanced technology and automation, and Pasto's Yongin Center 1 obtained preliminary certification grade 1.

The center consists of four floors and is divided into frozen, refrigerated, and ambient temperature zones according to product characteristics. Various automated equipment and robots have been and will be deployed on each floor.

Pasto is currently in the process of applying its own designed and modeled AI algorithms to the automated warehouse system (AutoStore) and sorter (Sure Sort) supplied by partner companies, which have been introduced at the Yongin 1 Center. The goal is to improve work speed by 20% compared to logistics centers using the same equipment, and the company plans to initiate the patent application process in the future. In addition, we plan to proceed with integration with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs).

The AI algorithm currently under in-house development is expected to increase the efficiency of product picking and packing, and forecasting and replenishment processes, leading to a 10% reduction in customer outbound and storage costs.

Hong Jong-wook, CEO of Pasto, stated, “The fulfillment market, which was worth 2.1 trillion won in 2019, is expected to grow by 15% annually to reach approximately 3.8 trillion won in 2023,” adding, “Pasto will establish a cooperative system with leading domestic and international companies to create a smart logistics ecosystem and support many online sellers in running sustainable businesses.”