NAVER Publishes '10-Year Evolution Path Report' Highlighting Results of Building Naver Smart Store

[Financial News] Sellers on Naver Smart Store consider financial support, such as assistance with fees and settlements, more important in the early stages of their businesses. Once their businesses grow, they place greater value on marketing and expanding sales channels. The analysis attributes this shift to NAVER's efforts over the past decade to expand support infrastructure spanning finance, data, logistics and AI in line with sellers' growth stages.
NAVER published on the 30th the 'D-Commerce Report 2026: A Report on Naver Smart Store's 10-Year Evolution Path,' a joint study conducted with research teams led by Professor Yoo Byung-joon of Seoul National University and Professor Choi Bo-reum of Yonsei University.
The research teams analyzed changes in Naver Smart Store's seller-support system, focusing on how sellers face different barriers at each stage of growth. Built around a seller-led model in which merchants operate their businesses directly, Naver Smart Store has provided low barriers to entry, stronger data-analysis capabilities and financial support.
In the early stages of a business, the focus was on reducing costs. In 2018, NAVER supported the launch of the 'Free Smart Store,' which was based on low commission rates. In 2020, it introduced the 'Fast Settlement Service' to ease the burden of waiting for sales proceeds.
As sellers grew, the scope of support expanded to content, data and logistics. After launching Naver Shopping Live in 2020, NAVER introduced a logistics solution in 2022 and various commerce solutions in 2023. As the shift to AI accelerated, it launched Naver Plus Store in 2024, applying personalization technology and AI recommendations, while also further upgrading its logistics infrastructure and N Delivery.
The support sellers actually needed also varied by growth stage. Among sellers in the entry and growth stages, 50.6% and 53.2%, respectively, cited 'financial support,' including low commissions and fast settlements, as the main reason they operated Naver Smart Store as their primary platform. By contrast, 48.3% of mature-stage sellers cited 'business support,' such as marketing exposure and developing new sales channels, rating it more important than financial support at 40.0%.
The study also identified cases in which seller-support solutions led to actual sales growth. The 'Seller Coupon' customer relationship management (CRM) solution, which helps sellers manage repeat customers, produced a sales increase that lasted for about three months after use. Stores that accumulated more than twice as many 'one-month usage reviews' as they had initially saw sales rise by as much as 9.6%.
Professor Yoo Byung-joon of Seoul National University said, "As sellers undergo the transition to AX, I expect them to grow their businesses once again on NAVER's evolved growth infrastructure." Professor Choi Bo-reum of Yonsei University added, "Naver Smart Store's evolution journey is a successful example of the platform economy that has created a growth-ladder effect."



[email protected] Choi Hye-rim Reporter