South Korea – Naver Corp., a global ICT company, has recently teamed up with dawn grocery platform service provider Kurly Inc. in a move to acquire a potential investment stake.
As part of the agreement, Naver signed a strategic alliance with the company’s grocery delivery service, Market Kurly, to enhance the latter’s overall e-commerce business. This includes bringing Kurly’s offerings to Naver’s artificial intelligence shopping platform, Naver Plus Store, within the year to sell food, daily essentials, and other consumer goods.
Said collaboration further aims to boost Naver’s presence in the underdeveloped fresh grocery segment while also giving Kurly access to a broader audience.
In particular, Kurly intends to expand its distribution channels beyond its standalone platform, Kurly Mall, by leveraging Naver’s massive user base, aiming to strengthen its market reach and drive business growth.
Additionally, the partnership aims to counter the dominance of Coupang, which currently leads the market.
Naver is ramping up efforts to grow its online shopping division, accounting for around 27% of its total revenue by incorporating its proprietary AI model and enhancing its delivery capabilities.
Last year, its e-commerce volume reached an estimated 50 trillion won ($35.1b), falling short of Coupang’s 55 trillion won, according to industry sources. Industry sources further revealed that the company is also considering taking a stake in Kurly to challenge Coupang, which is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
