Naver SmartPlace Contributes to Creating Economic Value of 46 Trillion KRW Annually

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Naver’s ‘SmartPlace’ has been found to provide offline small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an economic value totaling 46.1 trillion KRW annually, according to a recent study.

On the 23rd, Naver published the ‘D-Place Report 2021’ based on the research titled ‘Economic Value Assessment of SmartPlace’ conducted by Professor Yoo Byung-joon’s team at Seoul National University’s Business School.

Professor Yoo’s team estimated the cost-saving and revenue-increasing effects that various business tools of SmartPlace?such as homepage functions, Naver Reservation, Naver Order, TalkTalk, SmartCall, and local SME advertising?provide to offline SMEs. The results showed that SmartPlace contributes to creating an economic value of 46.1 trillion KRW annually, with cost-saving effects of approximately 12.9 trillion KRW and revenue-increasing effects of about 33.2 trillion KRW.

Information about offline SMEs registered on SmartPlace is exposed to potential customers not only through Naver search results and maps but also via various location recommendation technologies such as ‘SmartAround.’ Through this, offline SMEs gain an average of 202 user clicks per week, and the directly and indirectly saved advertising costs are estimated at 12.6 trillion KRW annually.

Considering the global average CPC (cost per click) estimated at about 712 KRW, offline SMEs can secure user clicks worth approximately 140,000 KRW weekly simply by utilizing SmartPlace.

Professor Yoo’s team calculated SmartPlace’s revenue-increasing effect by multiplying the annual advertising cost savings by the ‘average return on advertising spend’ measured by a global information research company. SmartPlace generates a revenue-increasing effect of 33.2 trillion KRW annually, and even after deducting the average operating expenses required for offline SMEs to maintain their business, it contributes to creating a net profit of about 3.4 trillion KRW.

Kwon Hyuk-sang, Naver SmartPlace leader, said, "We will strengthen synergies with Naver’s various technologies, including preference-based location recommendation technology, to help offline SMEs overcome the limitations of commercial districts and create a virtuous cycle structure that better connects them with customers."

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