Naver flashes into e-commerce game with same-day delivery

Naver's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi [NEWS1]

Naver, Korea’s largest internet portal, is diving into the cutthroat e-commerce market with its own superfast delivery service within the capital area.

The same-day delivery service, which started on Monday, operates even on Sundays, according to the company on Thursday.

Daily necessities such as tissues, diapers and fresh goods will be delivered the same day if an order is placed before 11 a.m. If the delivery is not completed on the designated day, they are given 1,000 Naver Pay points, which can be spent on goods available through Naver Pay.

Some commodities can also be received on Sunday if an order is placed on Saturday.

The portal giant said that it will also partially fund its sellers’ insurance plans for free exchanges and refunds from May 22, allowing merchants to provide free exchanges and refunds without incurring extra costs.

Since e-commerce behemoth Coupang raised its WOW paid membership fee by 58.1 percent to 7,890 won ($5.74) a month from last week, other platforms have been aggressively rolling out promotions to lure users.

Naver is providing a three-month free trial of its paid membership service, dubbed Naver Plus, that is valid until May 31. The membership provides a variety of benefits, from offering more loyalty points to discounts for users who purchase or make reservations through the portal site, as well as discounts on digital content from streaming services Tving and Naver Webtoon.

The company also provides all subscribers with a 3,500 won delivery discount coupon for every purchase over 10,000 won that utilizes its same-day delivery service until July 15.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]