(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – With Kakao’s expansion into corporate messaging, the ways in which people consume business information are changing.
Consumers no longer have to receive informational texts, call customer support or go through company webpages for information. These types of communication can all be handled by KakaoTalk, Kakao’s flagship messenger.
Kakao Corporation has been launching various corporate messaging services over the past few months.
Kakao first launched Allim (notification in Korean) Talk last September. The service allows corporations such as shopping malls, banks, and credit card companies to send a multitude of information, including payments, orders, and account transactions to their customers, without having to ‘friend’ them.
Kakao’s Yellow ID is a feature that allows businesses to enter into direct communication with their customers through KakaoTalk. Customer management has become more practical, and consumers are now being offered a more convenient way to obtain information.
Earlier this April, Kakao released Friend Talk, an API (Application Programming Interface) that enables businesses to link their in-house messaging systems with KakaoTalk. By doing so, businesses can send messages to their customers via Plus Friend and Yellow ID.
Kakao’s first expansion into B2B messaging was Plus Friend, which was designed to help businesses deliver marketing information to customers that ‘friend’ their pages. The service was praised for its mobile optimization, and suggested future potential for mobile messengers to create profit.
Alongside corporate messaging services, Kakao also announced a new open-door policy for message brokers. Message brokers are intermediaries between message senders and receivers. Until now, Kakao was only open to seven official brokers for stability reasons.
Kakao also hopes to bring stability to the existing market structure. There have been clashes between telecommunications companies and message brokers, creating a fragile market environment. With Kakao entering the market, there will be additional options for all parties.
“We will expand our corporate messaging offerings to provide convenience in terms of the exchange of information between various organizations. We will try to create a more stable market structure by actively communicating with businesses and message brokers,” said Cheol-woong Gam, director of Kakao Message Operations.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
