[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Global company Facebook has acquired a startup valued at 1 trillion won to strengthen its online shopping capabilities. This move is interpreted as Facebook, which previously launched the 'Facebook Shops' service, stepping up its competitiveness in e-commerce.
On the 30th of last month (local time), Facebook announced the acquisition of 'Kustomer,' a customer service platform and chatbot software developer. Major foreign media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Kustomer's market value is approximately 1 billion dollars (1.1 trillion won).
Kustomer is a company that implements online customer service on a single screen and develops chatbot systems that automatically respond to customer inquiries.
In May, Facebook launched the online shopping service 'Facebook Shops' in the United States and some European countries. Facebook Shops allows users to open stores and promote and sell products on Facebook and Instagram. It was introduced in Korea in June, with the global e-commerce platform 'Cafe24' joining the service.
Industry experts view Facebook's acquisition of Kustomer as a measure to expand its foundation for entering e-commerce. Facebook stated, "We plan to support the necessary work to integrate Kustomer with our messaging services."
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