Ji-eun Park, Director of Kakao Mobility, "Dedicated Page to Open by End of August"
Corporate Navigation in May, VIP Proxy Service Scheduled for August
[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao Mobility is launching a comprehensive service that supports everything from search to payment, targeting the KakaoT corporate market. To attract 'big clients' in corporate membership, VIP Daeri service and rental car service will also be added. This is a measure to reduce dependence on B2C (business-to-consumer) and expand competitiveness in B2B (business-to-business).
Park Ji-eun, director of Kakao Mobility's New Passenger Team overseeing B2B business, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 27th, "At the end of August, we will launch 'Biz Home' (tentative name), a dedicated page for KakaoT corporate members." Biz Home, added to the KakaoT application (app), will comprehensively support services available to corporate members such as taxis, premium taxis, and Daeri. Corporate members will be able to receive all mobility-related services from search to reservation and payment.
◆ MaaS Platform Integrating Corporate Customer Services = Director Park explained, "Kakao Mobility aims to become the standard MaaS (Mobility as a Service) platform for all corporate customers." MaaS refers to an integrated platform that connects all modes of transportation such as taxis and Daeri, allowing route search, reservation, and payment through a single app.
Services targeting corporate customers will be launched one after another. In May, a corporate navigation service was introduced, and in August, a 'VIP Daeri Service' will be launched. The navigation service is a corporate-exclusive system that automatically settles fuel costs and tolls and manages employees' usage environment according to each company's transportation support policies.
Park said, "Currently, taxi service is receiving the best response, but we see great potential in Daeri and navigation services," adding, "The VIP Daeri service is aimed at corporate executives, where professionally trained drivers perform Daeri duties."
Kakao Mobility is also preparing a rental car brokerage business for corporations. Park said, "The company has been considering rental car services for a long time," and predicted, "The service will be at the level where companies rent rental cars as corporate vehicles for employees on business trips."
◆ Corporate Membership Grows Tenfold in Two Years = The reason Kakao Mobility is focusing on the B2B business is that it sees it as a market with great growth potential.
The number of corporate members of Kakao Mobility, which was about 400 in 2018, has increased nearly tenfold to about 4,000 in two years. Kakao Mobility's revenue, which was 16.7 billion KRW in 2017, rose to 53.6 billion KRW in 2018 and surpassed 100 billion KRW last year. The nearly doubled revenue increase is thanks to active expansion into the B2B sector last year. Park said, "The growth rate of revenue in the B2B sector is very large," adding, "We will increase the portion it occupies in the company's total revenue and make it solid."
Kakao Mobility aims to reach 10,000 members this year. Park said, "This year, we plan to secure an overwhelmingly large number of corporate clients," adding, "Each product such as taxi and Daeri services must be competitive, but for Biz Home to evolve, many corporate members need to join." Park added, "For companies, there is a need to settle transportation expenses. Our goal is to make it a service that companies join unconditionally, like a telecom membership card."
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