Naver, which is chasing Coupang and expanding its commerce business, is also putting effort into beauty after fresh food and fast delivery. As it adds commerce staff, it is also moving to secure beauty specialists and is strengthening the Naver Plus Store's beauty lineup by collaborating with domestic and overseas cosmetics brands.
According to the industry on the 25th, Naver has recently been securing experienced talent in succession to expand its commerce business. After hiring staff to handle delivery and logistics infrastructure upgrades, it is also increasing specialists in the beauty field. It is also said that there are more cases of people moving to Naver from cosmetics brands and e-commerce platforms.
Naver also hired a manager in charge of beauty brand business partnerships last year. It listed experience as a merchandise planner (MD) at a beauty brand company or e-commerce platform as a qualification. The role covered collaborating with domestic and overseas beauty brands and handling promotions within the Naver Plus Store.
Alongside expanding staff, it is strengthening its beauty lineup. In January, Naver brought Chanel Beauty to High End, the luxury brand service of the Naver Plus Store. It linked not only product sales but also authenticity guarantees, premium gift wrapping, and Chanel membership. Prada Beauty and Burberry Beauty have also joined High End.
Last year, Naver's luxury beauty transaction amount rose 29% from a year earlier. The number of onboarded brands increased about fivefold compared with when the luxury beauty service first launched. Beyond luxury, major brand collaborations are strengthening across the beauty industry. It is expanding exclusive and early-release products with Amorepacific and has formed a strategic partnership with L'Oréal Korea to strengthen beauty commerce.
On Naver Shopping Live, it also runs broadcasts timed to new product launches and discount events by beauty brands that have joined the store. Recently, popular brands such as Medicube by APR and Hera by Amorepacific recorded view counts exceeding hundreds of thousands in a single broadcast. On Naver Map, in addition to beauty services such as hair salons and nail shops, it marks specialty cosmetics and perfume retailers with a beauty icon.
Analysis also notes that platforms like Naver are gaining influence in the beauty market. In a report published that day, Samil PwC said, "The center of gravity in the K-beauty industry is shifting from individual brands to distribution platforms," and added, "The role of platforms is expanding beyond simple sales to brand discovery and development, data-driven marketing, and logistics."
Recently, Naver has been aggressively expanding its commerce business across the board. Last year, revenue in Naver's commerce institutional sector rose 26.2% from a year earlier to 3.6884 trillion won. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said on an earnings conference call, "We will make 2026 a turning point to accelerate the takeoff of the commerce business."
In particular, this year Naver has been focusing on strengthening its delivery capabilities, which were considered a weakness compared with Coupang. Teaming up with Kurly, it introduced same-day delivery following dawn delivery, and, in collaboration with logistics firms, is increasing items covered by N Delivery (guaranteed arrival date). Delivery time windows, once centered on same-day and next-day, have expanded to dawn and Sundays.
It is steadily boosting competitiveness in fresh food through collaboration with Kurly. In September last year, Naver joined hands with Kurly to launch Kurly N Mart, a grocery specialty section, on the Naver Plus Store. In May this year, it made an additional investment of 33 billion won in Kurly, raising its equity stake from 5.1% to 6.2%.
Naver's commerce growth continued in the second quarter. Service revenue, which includes the Naver Plus Store, membership, and N Delivery, was 455 billion won, up 31.3% from a year earlier. During the same period, Smart Store transaction amount increased 15.5%. As of June this year, N Delivery accounted for more than 20% of total Smart Store transaction amount, and N Delivery transaction amount rose 76% from a year earlier.