(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Sang-yong Han = The 'subscription war' in the platform industry is heating up as Kakao joins the paid membership market where Naver and Coupang have been competing.
'Three-party competition' has begun in earnest to secure users and encourage them to continue using their services by combining shopping savings and free shipping with content, payment, and lifestyle benefits.
Naver is focusing on point accumulation and external brand partnerships, Kakao is focusing on combining KakaoTalk-based services, and Coupang is focusing on shipping and delivery convenience.
It is interpreted that all three companies are trying to build an ecosystem centered on their own strengths by leveraging their respective strengths.
◇ Naver combines savings with affiliate benefits… “95% subscription retention rate”
According to the information and communications (IT) and platform industries on the 4th, Naver Plus membership was launched in June 2020 and is evaluated as having a solid user base with its specialized strengths in accumulation.
It provides shopping savings and content and lifestyle benefits for a monthly subscription fee of 4,900 won, or an annual pass equivalent of 3,900 won per month.
According to Naver, the rate of maintaining monthly subscriptions is 95%.
Naver explains that the proportion of shopping among membership users is more than three times higher than that of non-subscribers.
Naver did not disclose it, but the industry estimates that the number of Naver Plus membership users is around 10 million.
In Consumer Insight's first half of 2025 survey, Naver Plus membership ranked first among shopping memberships surveyed with a user satisfaction rate of 71%.
The core benefit is point accumulation.
In shopping eligible for points, you can earn up to 5% on accumulated monthly purchases up to 200,000 won, and 2% on purchases exceeding 200,000 won up to 3 million won.
The accumulated points can be used in the Naver Pay ecosystem, and benefits tailored to the purchase cycle and products of interest are being expanded.
Pet and baby vouchers also provide additional savings on repeat purchases such as food, diapers, and powdered milk.
Last month, we launched 'Super Regular', which allows you to earn an additional 5% of the purchase amount if you repurchase within 90 days of purchase at participating smart stores.
In the area of grocery shopping and delivery, Naver also plans to operate 'Kurly N Mart' in partnership with Lee and convert N Delivery's early morning delivery into a membership benefit within the year.
Naver also touts partnerships with external services as its main competitive edge.
Since partnering with Netflix in 2024, the scope of cooperation has expanded to include Spotify, Microsoft, Lotte, and GS Caltex.
Naver's strategy is to increase reasons to maintain subscriptions by combining not only digital content but also benefits available at gas stations, convenience stores, movie theaters, and duty-free shops.
◇ Kakao, 4,900 won per month… “Focus on expanding service experience”
On the 1st, Kakao launched a trial version of 'Kakao Membership', which costs 4,900 won per month, the same as Naver's subscription fee.
To stabilize the initial service, registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for a small number of users.
The biggest strength is that it bundles Kakao's various services, such as gifting, talk deals, Kakao Pay [377300], Melon, Kakao Page, emoticons, Talk Cloud, and securities and insurance, into one subscription product.
Additionally, 0.5-5% of the gift/talk deal payment amount is accumulated up to 20,000 shopping points per month.
When paying with Kakao Pay Money, separate Kakao Pay point accumulation benefits are also provided. Kakao Pay Points can be accumulated up to 50,000 points per month for both online and offline payments.
As a content benefit, you can choose between Emoticon Plus and Talk Cloud 130GB voucher every month. The number of Emoticon Plus subscribers exceeded 2.5 million last year.
Kakao Page Cash, domestic stock selling commission cashback, and compensation for damage to the mobile phone screen are also provided depending on the conditions.
Kakao explained that it focused on providing opportunities to experience various Kakao services.
It is explained that the benefits that can be experienced while using KakaoTalk, such as emoticons, conversations, file storage, and gift giving, are the main differentiators compared to subscriptions to other platforms.
In the future, we plan to increase participation services and expand collaboration with external partners.
A Kakao official said, "Kakao Membership is in its early stages as it was soft-launched on the 1st, and we will strive to advance the membership service and improve its completeness in the future."
◇ Coupang provides shipping and delivery… Actual frequency of use is more important than benefits
Coupang Wow membership has a higher subscription fee than Naver and Kakao at 7,890 won per month, but it emphasizes benefits that reduce daily expenses, such as free shipping, free returns, and free food delivery.
By combining Coupang Eats and Coupang Play with shopping services such as Rocket Delivery and Rocket Fresh, the scope of use has expanded from purchasing products to shopping, ordering food, and watching videos.
Applicable conditions vary depending on the service, product, region, etc.
While Naver encourages purchases and revisits through reward points and affiliate services, Coupang has a structure that allows users to repeatedly experience the convenience of shipping, returns, and delivery.
Kakao joined the competition by linking services already used on KakaoTalk with subscription benefits.
Looking at the competitive landscape of the three companies, they also have something in common: they are focused on increasing shopping, payments, and content use within their ecosystem beyond monthly subscription fee income.
This is why repeat purchases and maintenance of subscriptions are as important as securing new subscribers.
The value that consumers experience varies depending on the services they use on a daily basis.
In the industry, as each of these companies has strengths and weaknesses, it is expected that the selection criterion will be whether benefits beyond the monthly subscription fee can be obtained depending on the actual purchase amount and frequency of use.
