[Edaily Reporter Han Jeon-jin ] We are entering an era where platforms once used for money transfers, searches, and messaging now also offer early-morning delivery. This shift comes as major platforms such as Naver (#NAVER), Kakao(035720), and Toss (Nekato) expand into fresh food and online grocery shopping. Rather than building their own logistics networks, they are integrating existing retailers into their apps. As platforms with a user base and retailers with products and logistics join forces, the boundaries of e-commerce are becoming increasingly blurred.

◇An app opened several times a week… Why Nekat has set its sights on grocery shopping
According to industry sources on the 6th, the financial platform Toss launched an “Oasis Market Exclusive Section” on Toss Shopping this month and began offering early-morning delivery for approximately 7,000 products, including fresh food. Users can search for products, make payments, and track deliveries directly within the Toss app without needing a separate Oasis Market account, and delivery is handled by Oasis’s existing logistics network. Toss invested approximately 30 billion won in OA Co., Ltd., strengthening their partnership beyond a simple storefront partnership.

Toss’s entry into the grocery market is just one aspect of the e-commerce expansion currently taking place in the platform industry. Previously, in September of last year, Naver launched “Kurly N-Mart” in partnership with Kurly, integrating Kurly’s products and early-morning delivery infrastructure into the Naver Plus Store. Curly N Mart’s transaction volume increased approximately tenfold from its initial level within just one year of launch, with more than 80% of that volume generated through the Naver Plus Store app. This case demonstrates that combining a retailer’s product and logistics strengths with a major platform’s user base can lead to significant growth in actual transactions.

Kakao, the operator of the messaging app KakaoTalk, is also expanding its grocery shopping business. Last February, it partnered with Lotte Mart and Lotte Super to launch an online grocery shopping service on Kakao Shopping by the end of this year. The plan involves expanding the product range—from fresh produce to refrigerated and frozen foods and daily necessities—while leveraging Lotte Mart’s logistics capabilities. Separately, Kakao is also strengthening its capabilities in direct procurement of fresh produce and logistics operations. Platforms that have grown in diverse sectors—such as search, finance, and messaging—are now collectively targeting consumers’ “shopping carts” as a new battleground.

The reason major platforms are turning their attention to grocery shopping is the high purchase frequency. Food and daily necessities are staple consumer goods that are purchased repeatedly, even several times a week. The more grocery shopping is integrated into the app, the more often users visit it, and the more payment and purchase data is accumulated. Consumption patterns—such as what users buy, how often they buy it, and which products they bundle together—are key assets that can be leveraged for other business areas, including advertising, recommendations, financial services, and membership programs.

◇Coupang Goes Outward, Naver-Kakao-Daum Goes Inward… The Battle for Customer Touchpoints

Their interests also align with those of existing retail and e-commerce companies. The fresh food market has high barriers to entry, including product procurement, refrigerated and frozen storage, and early-morning delivery. Instead of building this infrastructure from scratch, platforms can quickly launch grocery shopping services by partnering with companies that already have the necessary products and logistics infrastructure. Conversely, retailers—who must attract new users solely through their own apps—can leverage the traffic from major platforms as a new sales channel. It’s a structure where platforms fill the gaps in product offerings and delivery, while retailers fill the gaps in customer touchpoints.

It is also worth noting that the business domains of major platforms are overlapping. While Naver, Kakao, and Daum (collectively known as “Nekato”) are expanding their reach into commerce, Coupang has branched out from its e-commerce base into food delivery, online video services (OTT), and mobile payment solutions. Revenue from Coupang’s growth businesses—including Rocket Delivery in Taiwan and Coupang Eats—rose 20% year-over-year in the second quarter of this year. Although their starting points differ, their operations overlap in everyday areas such as shopping, payments, content, and delivery. E-commerce is evolving beyond competition among retailers into an arena where major platforms compete for user engagement time.

Going forward, competition in the e-commerce sector is likely to shift from who holds the most inventory directly to who can lock in the most customer touchpoints and partners within their own platform. While retailers can secure new customers and sales channels through external platforms, they face the concern that, in the long run, control over direct consumer touchpoints and purchase data may shift toward the platforms. For platforms, too, the challenge lies in maintaining consistent service quality, given that they outsource product handling and delivery to external providers.

A retail industry official stated, “While partnerships between platforms and retailers are mutually beneficial in the short term, the issue ultimately boils down to who controls the consumer touchpoints,” adding, “As time goes on, the balance is likely to tip in favor of the platforms.” The official continued, “For retailers, survival will hinge on whether they can leverage the platform to expand their scale while simultaneously maintaining competitive advantages in products and logistics that the platform cannot easily replace.”