If someone asks me what should be the first step to roll out a new brand in Korean market, my answer is Naver store. It’s even more important than the official website because it’s easier and more efficient. You can also consider taking the Naver Store as your brand official site. Here’s some information about it.
1. As of 25th January 2023, there are 1,358 Naver brand stores in operation, and the number is increasing rapidly (It was 1,314 in December 2022). Given the trend, it is expected to be around 2,000 stores in total including the existing ones by the end of this year.
2. By category, it consists of fashion clothing 133, fashion accessories 126, cosmetics/beauty 238, furniture/interior 93, food 105, childbirth/childcare 156, sports/leisure 159, digital/home appliances 142, living /health 202, and others 4. When analyzing the top 10 malls in the order of clicks, the digital/home appliance categories have the largest share with 5 out of the top 10 malls.
3. You need to go through Naver’s brand examination process to open a brand store. You need to be either a brand owner or if overseas brand, official distributor in Korean market to be eligible for Naver brand store opening.
4. Even if you fulfill the no.3 above, it is not easy to directly start as a brand store. If your brand is not a globally renowned one, you will be asked to open Naver Smartstore first, Naver confirms the actual revenue of your brand, then you will finally be eligible for converting your Smartstore to a brand store.
5. Despite no.4, it’s important to build a business relationship with your brand category MD of Naver from the beginning when you are running a Smartstore. It will help you have a higher chance to switch to a Brand Store when your brand demonstrates sufficient traffic and revenue.
#Naver #Brandstore #Smartstore #eCommerce #Korea
<Image source: Naver Shopping>