Kakao said on Thursday it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Lotte Mart-Super to strengthen competitiveness in online grocery shopping. It will start an online grocery service with Lotte Mart on Kakao Shopping within the year.

Under the MOU, the companies will offer online mart shopping that combines fresh food products and delivery capabilities, and continue cooperation to expand their customer base and strengthen commerce competitiveness. The signing ceremony was attended by Kakao CEO Shina Chung (정신아) and Lotte Mart-Super CEO Woochul Cha (차우철), along with other key officials. Kakao and Lotte Mart discussed the direction of cooperation for the online grocery service, the scope of roles and plans for future business 추진.

Kakao will further strengthen Kakao Shopping's grocery-shopping competitiveness through the collaboration. It will regularly offer Lotte Mart products across major commerce placements such as the KakaoTalk Shopping tab and Tok Deal, and improve convenience so users can easily complete grocery shopping within KakaoTalk. It will expand its product portfolio focused on everyday consumption, including fresh foods with high grocery demand such as fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood, as well as chilled and frozen foods and daily necessities. It expects the move to attract new customers and strengthen commerce competitiveness.

Lotte Mart is upgrading its online grocery service capabilities around the Zeta Smart Center it built based on its partnership with Ocado. It plans to start dawn delivery and ultra-short delivery services in the Busan and South Gyeongsang regions from the opening of the Zeta Smart Center in Busan this year, and then expand the service scope to the Seoul metropolitan area to strengthen the foundation for growth in the online grocery market. It aims to secure a basis to provide a broader range of grocery products, including fresh foods and chilled and frozen foods, more stably. It also expects to expand more differentiated customer services through cooperation with Kakao's platform, which is recording high traffic.

They will also pursue cooperation measures linking online and offline operations, such as encouraging visits to offline stores using KakaoTalk channels, providing benefits to members of both companies, and selling mart-exclusive planned private-brand products. Through this, the companies plan to gradually develop a cooperation model for online mart shopping that combines products, delivery and customer experience.

Woochul Cha said, "By adding Kakao's convenience to the fresh-food competitiveness that Lotte Mart has built up, we will become a 'grocery shopping companion' that shares customers' daily lives and create a new standard for online grocery shopping." He added, "Going forward, Lotte Mart will create an integrated shopping environment that customers can use most conveniently without boundaries between online and offline, through grocery capabilities and cooperation with various partners, and become the leading player in the grocery market."

Shina Chung said, "This cooperation will be an important opportunity to expand the commerce experience based on KakaoTalk into everyday grocery shopping that includes fresh foods and daily necessities." She added, "We will continue to strengthen delivery and product competitiveness so users can receive the products they need in daily life faster and more conveniently, and expand Kakao's commerce ecosystem through cooperation with various partners."