Kakao is to recruit professionals to enter the fulfillment (e-commerce logistics) business and to equip itself a high-tech logistics platform to take over related companies in the future.
According to Kakao on the 29th, its subsidiary, Kakao Enterprise, has recently begun to recruitpersonnel for fulfillment business in all ways. Based on logistics solutions and platforms, it will hire a wide range of personnel in the business, development, and operation fields, such as logistics platform operation and planning, logistics solution design, and new business strategy personnel.
Kakao has decided to focus on logistics as one of its B2B businesses and to secure infrastructure and partners by investing in or acquiring companies with logistics centers or delivery networks. Kakao is expected to carry out the fulfillment business by utilizing its own technology.
Kakao Enterprise will be developing a logistics platform for B2B services. Logistics solution will design effective warehousing and inventory management processes to be applied to multiple distribution centers, which will be led by AI technology in the front. Kakao plans to design and apply AI models by optimizing logistics by analyzing the data collected through the logistics platform, and recruit people who can do business due diligence to review logistics-related mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Kakao said, “The fulfillment business is in a review process. Even if we start this business, we will use AI instead of building and operating warehouses or distribution centers or directly providing logistics services.” This means Kakao will consider transplanting Kakao technology to its partners. Whether or not to independently build a new related platform is in flux as it has not completed business review.
As Kakao accelerates its fulfillment business, its competition against Naver may to intensify further. Naver started its fulfillment business through an alliance strategy this year and has been operated the Naver Fulfillment Alliance (NFA) since July. NFA is a service provided to smart store operators by bundling 7 logistics and fulfillment companies invested by Naver into a single system. Companies in specialized fields such as fresh food delivery were also included in the NFA. Naver plans to expand the participating companies of NFAto the home appliance and furniture delivery sector as well.
Naver also took a step forward from its alliance strategy and started a business to directly build a fulfillment infrastructure. It announced in July its plan to build a fulfillment center of over 200,000 pyeong in cooperation with CJ Korea Express. The two companies exchanged shares worth KRW 600 billion last year. Naver will apply advanced technologies such as AI and robots to fulfillment centers it creates with CJ Logistics. By building a logistics data solution control tower with 'Clova', Naver's AI technology, it will advance logistics technologies such as demand forecasting, warehouse allocation, and automatic warehousing reservation.
Kakao and Naver are working hard on the logistics business because their commerce businesses are growing rapidly. According to Kakao, the number of Kakao Shopping members exceeded 40 million, and the transaction amount of Kakao Commerce in this year’s2Q increased by 48% compared to the same period last year. The transaction amount of Naver Smart Store in the 2Q also increased by 42.6% compared to the same period last year.
By Staff Reporter Si-so Kim (siso@etnews.com)