'IT Startup' Helping Increase Sales in Local Businesses Facing the COVID Crisis

Spoca Expands Food Ingredient Cost Management Service
Enhancing Small Business Competitiveness Through IT-Integrated Marketing Support

IT platforms equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology are offering various solutions while helping small business owners facing crises. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As the impact of COVID-19 has continued for over a year, the difficulties faced by small business owners have deepened. Amid this, IT-based platform services that reduce the burden on small business owners are emerging and attracting attention. IT platforms equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology are helping small business owners facing crises by offering various solutions.

According to the industry on the 22nd, Spoca, a startup specializing in small business store solutions, provides various services for small business owners through its two major services: the store customer management platform ‘Dodo Point’ and the food ingredient cost management app ‘Dodo Cart’.

Small business owners using both services have shown noticeable sales growth effects. According to Spoca, the number of stores subscribed to these services has now surpassed 23,500.

In particular, the Dodo Cart service allows restaurants to register only the food ingredient specification sheets via the app and check real-time trends in food ingredient costs compared to the previous month. It also provides a comprehensive view of delivery suppliers and cost analysis by item.

The video review service is also gaining attention. The AI-based video review service ‘V Review’ has been introduced in more than 2,000 shopping malls and is diversifying collaborations with small and medium-sized business owners.

‘Isunsin Susan,’ which confirmed a remarkable sales increase effect through the V Review service, is a seafood shopping mall that operates its own aquaculture farm in Tongyeong and distributes fresh seafood nationwide.

According to Isunsin Susan’s statistics, the detailed page dwell time of customers increased about 2.5 times compared to before using V Review. Overall sales also rose. The fact that the content was reborn as new content sharing various recipes using seafood, beyond simple product reviews, was also found to be a key factor in the sales increase.

Channel Corporation’s all-in-one business messenger ‘Channel Talk’ is also helping various small and medium-sized business operators running both offline and online channels. For example, if a store owner running a clothing store creates an online site, adopting Channel Talk allows 24/7 customer communication and also achieves sales growth effects. Channel Talk can be linked with KakaoTalk, Naver Talk Talk, and Line Messenger, enabling centralized management of scattered consultations.

Channel Talk is available in both free and paid versions. Sending customized messages to customers is effective in inducing return visits from lost or potential customers. Using Channel Talk’s team messenger function, various types of chat rooms can be created, and it leads to high work efficiency by clearly separating work and personal life boundaries.

An industry official said, "Now, utilizing IT platforms in store operations is an indispensable choice," and predicted, "Advanced services for small business owners going through more difficult times than ever are expected to be launched and built mainly by startups in various fields."

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