Naver, 'Project Kkot'... Platform Win-Win Blossoms

Established as a Win-Win Model for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

As part of 'Project Kkot,' the 'Creator Day' event featured illustrators, musicians, florists, cultural planners, and alternative spaces participating together.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] Naver's social impact program, 'Project Kkot,' continues to create a butterfly effect. As it establishes itself as a win-win model with small and medium-sized merchants, other platform companies are following suit in their cooperative efforts.

According to Naver's 'Digital Ecosystem Report' on the 27th, as of June, there are 510,000 sellers operating on Smart Store. This represents an average annual growth rate of 37% from 2016 to 2022, meaning that 50,000 to 120,000 new entrepreneurs have been nurtured each year. Among sellers generating sales, 78.8% are small and medium-sized businesses with annual sales under 3 billion KRW, and 55% are early-stage sellers, indicating that many have started their digital entrepreneurship journey with Smart Store.

The background behind building this online startup ecosystem is 'Project Kkot.' Since 2016, Naver has supported sellers and creators through Project Kkot for six years. This includes technological support such as Smart Store, data analysis, and live commerce tools, as well as financial support like fast settlements and business loans. Various support programs form an organic model connected to business growth.

The cooperative efforts have spread throughout the platform industry. For example, Kakao has established a 300 billion KRW win-win fund over five years and is fulfilling its promises of cooperation with its community affiliates. Kakao's joint order platform, Kakao Makers, sold about 1,880 tons of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to 350,000 consumers through the 'Jegabeochi' project. The cumulative transaction amount has exceeded 7.4 billion KRW.

Coupang has supported small business owners and micro and small enterprises with 923.2 billion KRW over the past two years, including advertising and marketing expenses, early payment of transaction funds, loan support, and sales commission discounts. Baedal Minjok also made early payments of 83 billion KRW in settlement funds before the recent Chuseok holiday to help small business owners avoid financial difficulties.

An industry official said, "As win-win cooperation becomes an increasingly important issue in the platform industry, Naver's cooperative model is spreading," adding, "It should continue sincerely without being a temporary show."