SK Planet seeks to enter U.S. with new mobile service

SK Planet, a leading tech solutions developer owned by SK Telecom, on Monday expressed hopes to enter the U.S. market in October this year with its new mobile sales solution, NEXT Commerce.

The Korean firm will test the service starting this month in Berkeley, California, where SK Planet said it has secured partnerships with around 20 firms.

Based on these plans, the company is aiming for 2.8 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in annual sales over the next three years, double the 1.4 trillion won it recorded in 2013.

The main idea behind NEXT Commerce is to offer a one-stop commerce platform for users. For this effort, SK Planet has rounded up different mobile services, such as the mileage service OK Cashbag, the mobile wallet application Smart Wallet and the mobile coupon service Gifticon under a new brand called Syrup. 

“We hope to take the lead in the next-generation commerce business with Syrup, which we believe will serve to bridge the gap between on-and-offline commerce markets,” said So Jin-woo, chief executive of SK Planet, at a press meeting in Seoul, expressing hopes that mobile services will become more accessible for the ordinary consumer, who can easily download Syrup coupons for use at offline partner stores.

CEO So said that later in the year SK Planet plans to incorporate the new commerce features with its existing online shopping and smartphone application stores such as 11st and T Store.

At home, the users would access the new services via Syrup Store, a mobile marketing platform that will gather sales data on consumers through big data analyses. In the U.S., consumers would get access through a similar format, but with more simplified services.

“SKT Inc. in the U.S. will be the main operator, but the name of the new service will not be Syrup,” an SK Planet employee said, adding that the company has yet to reveal the name.

The situation would be a win-win for both consumers and retailers, Seo said, as the former would get discounts and other perks, while the latter would be able to more easily target consumers based on data collected through the Syrup Store. SK Planet has already secured a vast clientele under OK Cashbag and Smart Wallet, which together have up to 49 million users ― almost the entire population of South Korea.

“In order to survive in this rapidly changing era of mobile services, it is imperative that we simultaneously run businesses in multiple markets,” the CEO of the SK Group affiliate said when asked to elaborate on the decision behind seeking entry to the U.S.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)