● Teaming up with NAVER, LINE oversees business operations, including sales and marketing

● Features are being optimized based on feedback of early joiners ahead of an official launch expected in spring 2022

● Stores can link to LINE Official Accounts to offer customers promotions, warranties and other services

 

TOKYO – October 21, 2021 – LINE Corporation ("LINE") and NAVER Corporation (“NAVER") jointly announce the advanced opening of “MySmartStore,” a Japan-localized version of NAVER SmartStore, Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce market*¹. MySmartStore began operations on October 20 in preparation to the service's official launch in spring 2022. 

*¹ As of 2019 / Weekly Visitors / Transaction Volume via NAVER Shopping / 1KRW=0.1yen 

NAVER is the provider of this service, while LINE oversees business operations, including sales and marketing.

 

According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the size of Japan’s e-commerce market in 2020 exceeded 12 trillion yen and has been growing continuously every year.*² And due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of businesses that have started participating in e-commerce to open new sales channels is increasing. However, creating an e-commerce site and attracting and managing customers independently can be a significant burden on businesses.

*² From METI's "Results of FY2020 E-Commerce Market Survey Compiled"

As a solution to this, LINE and NAVER decided to open MySmartStore, an online e-commerce platform that allows merchants to easily manage and run their operations, reducing the burden businesses face. 

MySmartStore is a Japan-localized version of NAVER SmartStore, an online shopping mall that NAVER operates in Korea. NAVER SmartStore had gross merchandise value of 17 trillion won in 2020 and grew 46% year-over-year in the first half of 2021. There are also 470,000 merchants operating on the platform.*³ Both in terms of the number of visitors and merchandise value, NAVER SmartStore accounts for a major share of Korea’s e-commerce market.

*³ As of September 2021  

MySmartStore will offer merchants a one-stop shop for opening, managing, gathering support and handling customers. The service utilizes NAVER’s know-how in enabling anyone to create a personal store on any device, with a wide range of design layouts and editing functions. Each store can also be synced to a LINE Official Account to offer promotions via coupon promotions and to answer customer inquiries through LINE chat. This digital customer service can allow stores to increase their fan base. Data analysis, for carrying out product and sales strategies, can be reviewed on the store dashboard. And there are future plans to add functions that track visitor traffic and identifies key customer segments.

As part of a promotional campaign, stores that apply to join MySmartStore by March 31, 2022 can receive an exemption from sales fees until March 2023.*⁴

*⁴ Only applicable for merchants in Japan

MySmartStore will improve its service to solve issues among merchants ahead of next year’s official launch, and will aim to create synergies with Z Holdings Corporation.

 

MySmartStore Service Features

 

① Sync with LINE Official Accounts

Each store can use LINE Official Account to send campaign announcements, coupons and promotional messages. 1:1 chat for customer service and after-sales service can also be done through LINE.*⁵

 *⁵ The LINE Official Account is a service provided by LINE, providing some functions in MySmartStore. 

 

 

② Easy-to-create stores with various design layouts and editing functions

There are many design layouts available for each store and a variety of editing functions to create an attractive store. Anyone can easily create a store and design it with personality and style.

 

③ Detailed Data Analysis for Sales Strategies Accessible on Dashboard

Data analysis tools helpful for product and sales strategizing can be found on the store dashboard. There are also plans to add functions for checking visitor traffic sources and identifying key customer segments. 

 

■ Stores already participating in MySmartStore *⁶

Many stores, including LINE FRIENDS, which sells LINE character products, 913 NEUF UN TROIS, a store specializing in low-sugar soy sweets specialty products with domestic beans and soy milk, and YOKOHAMA BAYU SHOUTEN, which sells skincare cosmetics, including horse oil products, are already on MySmartStore.

*⁶ Above are the logos of shops that are early joiners of MySmartStore.

 

・ 「LINE FRIENDS」　          URL：https://linefriends.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「YOKOHAMA BAYU SHOUTEN」　　URL：https://bayu.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「Kiyosen」   　                 URL：https://kiyosen.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「913 NEUF UN TROIS」　  URL：https://neufuntrois.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「Diara」　　　　                 URL：https://diara.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「VIVID LADY」　　            URL：https://vividlady.mysmartstore.jp

・ 「Akaito Coffee」               URL：https://akaitocoffee.mysmartstore.jp

 

■ No initial or month fees! Sales fee exempted during promotional period.

During the promotional period, businesses can sign up for MySmartStore for no initial or monthly fee. In addition, MySmartStore's sales fees are the lowest in the industry*⁷, allowing anyone to open up a store without being burdened by costs. Furthermore, for merchants opening new stores (applications submitted through March 31, 2022), a sales fee exemption, dropping all fees until March 2023, as part of this promotion.

*⁷ According to our research as of October 19, 2021

 

<Campaign Outline>

● Target: Merchants that have submitted store opening applications to “MySmartStore” by March 31, 2022

● Content: Sales fee exemption for all sales through “MySmartStore” until March 2023

● Application URL: https://smartstorecenter.jp/#/home/about/price (Japanese only)

 

Refer to the below privacy policies for details on information gathered by this service.

● Seller Privacy Policy: https://smartstorecenter.jp/#/policy/privacy

● User Privacy Policy: https://mysmartstore.jp/bs/privacy

 

■ MySmartStore URL

https://smartstorecenter.jp/#/home/about (Japanese only)

 

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