Train ticket reservation service on Naver Map (left) and Kakao T train service. [사진 각 사]
– Naver and Kakao, the two major Internet companies, broke through KTX. From the 1st, it is possible to reserve train tickets at Naver and Kakao. However, their service strategies are completely different. Who will be the winner of the train ticket service?
Linked with Naver, local restaurant search, etc.
Pursuing’Small and Medium Business Commerce Ecosystem’
Linked with Kakao, taxi and bus calls
Aiming for daily transportation, one-stop connection
– What is going on
From February 1, you can view and reserve train tickets in the’Naver Map’ app and the’Kakao T’app. Targets are KTX, ITX, Saemaeul, Mugunghwa, and tourist trains operated by the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL). Both companies announced this at the same time on the 31st.
You can buy tickets directly from Naver and Kakao starting from the daily train, but it may be difficult to purchase tickets for the New Year holidays depending on the time of day. This is because many tickets have already been sold at the existing KORAIL counters.
Why is it important
In the method of providing the same service of’train ticket reservation’, the difference in business directions between Naver and Kakao was clearly revealed. Naver is trying to combine train ticket reservations with local restaurant search or prepaid ordering, and Kakao Mobility plans to connect with its own taxi and bus calls, transfers, and navigation.
Naver’s strategy is
You can search for’train reservation’ in the Naver search window, or use the new’train inquiry/reservation’ function in the Naver Map app. According to Naver, among the searches that flowed into Naver Maps last year, there were 22 million train-related searches such as’Seoul Station’ and’Korail’. From now on, Naver’s strategy is to induce such searches into actual ticket purchases. Naver expects that ticket reservations will lead to sales of restaurant orders and reservations in the Naver Map app. Naver is also planning a service that recommends restaurants near the station according to the departure and arrival times of trains purchased by consumers.
The big picture of Kakao
A new’Kakao T Train’ button will appear in Kakao T, a mobility app that has the largest number of users in Korea. You don’t need to know the train station name or route information. If you enter only the final purpose, it will show the best route from the current location. In addition to trains, it also provides information on transfers between trains and intercity buses, reservations for bus tickets, and related transportation information such as estimated public transportation time to the train station and taxi fare. When you book a train ticket, a reminder KakaoTalk will also be sent to you when you need to go to the station on the day. When you click the link here, Kakao T Taxi is called immediately.
Kakao’s big picture is that it will connect all the ways to the destination in the Kakao T app. It emphasizes the importance of getting to the final destination quickly and accurately, not by means of transportation such as trains, taxis, and buses.
What do you aim for
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– Naver pursues a’commerce ecosystem for small and medium-sized merchants’. Naver fosters online store smart stores, allows offline stores to receive orders and reservations as smart orders, and payments for all these transactions are processed with Naver Pay. At this time, loans required for small business owners are provided by Naver Financial’s loans for small business owners. Commerce takes place within Naver from the beginning to the end.
Kakao aims for service-type mobility (MaaS) that connects daily transportation means such as surrogate driving, taxi, kickboard, and bicycles in one stop. This is why all new mobile services are put in Kakao T instead of a separate app. In addition to taxis and shuttles, bicycles (Kakao T bikes) and parking, called last mile (last mile to destination), and parking are also being serviced within the Kakao T app.
Reporter Shim Seo-hyun [email protected]
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