“Winning over food and beverage business owners”... NAVER Pay touts “Connect” at Seoul Cafe Show

[Financial News] Seoul Cafe Show, the world’s largest food and beverage (F&B) exhibition, attracts at least 100,000 visitors each year. On the 11th, the first day of this year’s event, held at COEX in Seoul’s Gangnam District for its 25th edition, the NAVER Pay (Npay) Connect booth was bustling from its 10 a.m. opening. Visitors streamed in beneath the “Npay Connect” sign, and many could be seen examining payment terminals or listening to explanations from staff.
At the exhibition, NAVER Pay is showcasing a “comprehensive business operations service” that goes beyond simply processing payments. Centered on the Connect payment terminal, it brings together features that support business owners across all aspects of running a store, from sales analysis and commercial district information to business training.
Inside the booth, visitors can watch videos of franchise owners sharing their experiences using Connect in their stores. Brina Keosyu, a bakery café and NAVER Pay merchant based in Jeju, has set up a pop-up store in the booth. The owner personally shares their experience and know-how in running a store with Connect.
Prospective business owners can also get advice on installing Connect at the venue. Those interested can be connected with a specialist consultant and proceed to a contract. NAVER Pay said that about 2,400 people had visited the booth as of 2 p.m. that day, and the number of merchants with Connect installed had exceeded 100,000 by the end of June.
Connect can also be found outside the NAVER Pay booth. It has been installed at booths for food and beverage, home appliance, and machinery brands that applied for terminal support at this year’s Seoul Cafe Show. FaceSign, which enables payment through facial recognition alone, is also being offered with visitors in mind as they move around carrying souvenirs or catalogs in both hands.
Visitors can also check out “Npay biz My Store Report” at one side of the NAVER Pay booth. For example, a business owner running a café in Bongcheon-dong can compare sales across the same industry by widening the area from their neighborhood to Gwanak-gu, Seoul, or the country as a whole. Trends in delivery orders and changes in commercial districts are also available at a glance.
A NAVER Pay representative explained, “You can view real-time sales indicators based on Connect on an hourly basis and compare them with the previous week or the average for the same day of the week,” adding, “In keeping with the food and beverage sector’s active delivery business, neighborhood delivery order trends are also reported hourly.”
Customer characteristics can also be analyzed by age and gender. The data is calculated using payment information NAVER Pay obtained through partnerships with three card companies. This allows business owners to develop sales strategies based on actual payment data rather than relying on intuition.
For now, the service is available free of charge to food and beverage business owners who are both NAVER Pay Connect merchants and users of Naver’s Place Plus (place+). NAVER Pay plans to officially launch the service later, adding eligible business categories or conditions.
Business owners unsure how to make use of the various features can turn to Naver Business School. It offers a range of programs for franchise owners on topics essential to running a business, such as operating a restaurant that takes reservations and improving product visibility in search results. Live classes are also available, with opportunities for questions and answers.
Another attraction was a dedicated FaceSign terminal for kiosks. It adds Connect’s FaceSign feature to existing kiosks, allowing customers to pay without a card or smartphone. It is scheduled for official release next month and will initially be installed at one large franchise, four highway rest stops, and two universities.
A NAVER Pay representative said, “For now, it can only be integrated with kiosks made by partner companies, but technically there are no restrictions on installing it on any type of kiosk.”
[email protected] Kim Tae-il Reporter