Chief Executive Choi Soo-yeon of Naver said on the 30th during the first-quarter earnings conference call that "in the second half of this year, we will introduce unlimited free shipping linked to membership."
Choi said, "We have made strengthening delivery competitiveness a key task this year and are pushing ahead," adding, "We will expand direct contracts and the 'N Delivery' service, which guarantees a promised estimated arrival date for key products, and build a virtuous cycle in which users are locked into the ecosystem and the transaction amount increases through delivery sophistication."
Naver disclosed that first-quarter revenue on a consolidation basis was 3.2411 trillion won, up 16.3% from a year earlier. First-quarter operating profit was 541.8 billion won, up 7.2% from a year earlier. Net profit for the period was 291 billion won, down 31.3% from a year earlier. Revenue hit a record high for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Artificial intelligence (AI) also played a big role in these results. Choi said, "AI accounted for more than 50% of the growth in first-quarter advertising revenue," adding, "AI-based revenue contribution will expand further going forward." She continued, "'AI Briefing,' which summarizes and shows key points of search results, aims to enter a full-fledged monetization phase from the third quarter after advertising tests combined with shopping and local services in the second quarter," and added, "The recently introduced 'AI Tab' is planned to adopt an advertising model in the fourth quarter."
AI's role in shopping will also be upgraded. She added, "Currently, AI serves roughly as a guide in shopping, but within the year we will upgrade it into a business AI agent that lifts user experience, profitability, and transaction conversion," and "users will be able to experience Naver's unrivaled shopping agent."
The company will also focus its capabilities on securing offline data. Choi said, "With the spread of AI, the strategic value of exclusive data that is difficult to collect or replicate is growing." She added, "We will integrate offline data secured through linkage between the Naver Pay Connect terminals for easy payment and Place (local) to strengthen Naver's structural moat."
On the day, Kim Hee-cheul, Naver's chief financial officer (CFO), said about the 'Naver Platform' division's profit and loss ratio falling into the 20% range for the first time, "As (AI-related) new infrastructure asset acquisitions were deployed to Naver services, related depreciation and telecommunications fees increased, and 18 billion won in expense for content IP investments such as broadcasting rights for the Winter Olympics and the League of Legends Champions Korea broadcasting rights was recognized in the first quarter."