From Furniture Assembly to Cockroach Extermination... 60,000 'Animan Helpers' Nationwide Solve It All

Yoon Ju-yeol, CEO of ASN. Photo by ASN

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] #A, a 26-year-old woman living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, who recently started working, purchased flat-pack furniture to organize her wardrobe in her studio apartment but has left the boxes unopened for two months because she couldn’t muster the courage to assemble it. Attracted by the price, which was less than half that of fully assembled furniture, she impulsively bought it, but lacked the strength and skills to put together the heavy steel rods and plywood boards. Finding it difficult to ask her parents living in the provinces for help and considering returning the furniture, she found a solution through ‘Anyman Helper,’ introduced by an acquaintance. After posting the ‘mission’ of furniture assembly on the Anyman app, she received quotes from seven ‘helpers’ within just 10 minutes, and she accepted the quote from helper B, who offered the lowest price. B visited A’s home at the agreed time and completed the furniture assembly in an hour.

The concierge service platform ‘Anyman’ application (app), which finds someone to do difficult tasks alone?such as ‘assembling furniture,’ ‘catching cockroaches,’ or ‘paying congratulatory money at a friend’s wedding in the provinces’?within just 10 minutes, is gaining great popularity among consumers.

After consumers sign up on the app and post the required task in the ‘mission request’ section along with simple information such as contact details and location, helpers from among the 60,000 nationwide who can perform the mission provide price proposals and quotes. Missions vary widely in type and method, including pest control, furniture assembly, delivery and courier services, childcare, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, and foreign language interpretation and guidance. Some missions require specialized skills, such as ‘help setting up an internet broadcasting program,’ while others are simple but require care, like ‘hanging cold medicine on the front door of a boyfriend’s house.’ The app typically keeps the mission request open for about 10 minutes to continue receiving quotes from helpers. The number of quotes per request can range from as few as one to more than 20.

Clients review the profile photos, actual work history, and client satisfaction ratings contained in the helpers’ quotes and then select the helper they like best to coordinate detailed schedules.

To register as a helper, personal information such as real name, bank account, and address must be provided, and a system is in place to ensure synchronization between the profile photo and the actual person. Subsequently, as customer ratings and satisfaction information accumulate, trust in the helpers gradually builds.

On the other hand, helpers can refuse or report so-called ‘problematic customers,’ arranged meetings, illegal loans, or other illegal or uncomfortable transactions.

Yoon Ju-yeol, CEO of ASN, said, “In the early stages of the business, many competitors emerged like mushrooms after rain, but without such systems in place, they turned into channels for arranged meetings or illegal loans and eventually disappeared. Anyman formed a dedicated customer response team to actively monitor not only helper identity verification but also customer reports, earning steady trust from consumers.”

Currently, about 55,000 to 60,000 helpers are active nationwide. Helpers include not only technicians but also housewives, university students, professors, and people of various occupations, genders, and ages.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year, demand for contactless transactions and online delivery services has increased, doubling the monthly service usage compared to the previous year. According to ASN, which develops and operates Anyman, the app’s cumulative registered users reached about 270,000 as of July, with a total of 230,000 requests.

Recently, Anyman helpers were also deployed to serve about 20,000 employees of Coupang’s logistics center who entered self-quarantine due to confirmed COVID-19 cases. They not only ran errands for quarantined employees but also handled deliveries on their behalf, alleviating concerns about delivery disruptions.

The COVID-19 crisis has even created new employment opportunities.

Helper B, who completed the furniture assembly mission in the above case, primarily works in stage setup for performances. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with performances and events being canceled one after another, his company faced difficulties, and he had to take unpaid leave. For B, who was struggling to make ends meet, Anyman was like an oasis in the desert. The skills and abilities he honed over years of setting up various large and small performance stages were fully utilized in the furniture assembly mission.

CEO Yoon said, “Helpers can earn an additional income of 3 to 4 million KRW per month if they manage their time well and have the ability to take on two or three jobs. Our mission is to bridge the gap so that the individual abilities of helpers can be appropriately used for clients who need the service.”

There were once criticisms that the ‘commission’ helpers had to pay to ASN was too high. To address this issue, ASN drastically reduced the commission from 20% to 10% in October last year.

Anyman is now expanding its business scope beyond individual transactions to corporate partnerships. Last year, it formed a partnership with IKEA to provide furniture assembly and delivery consignment services. Customers who purchase IKEA products online or offline can use this service. CEO Yoon aspires to expand the business into specialized areas such as elderly care and nursing services in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.