Kakao is bringing major services such as AI, membership, shopping and reservations into KakaoTalk. It is a strategy to use its existing user base and everyday chat context to connect users to other services.

According to the industry on Oct. 8, Kakao launched a 4,900 won-a-month "Kakao Membership" on Oct. 1. It is its first integrated membership that bundles benefits across services including Gift, Tok Deal and KakaoPay, as well as Melon, KakaoPage, emoticons, Tok Cloud, and Kakao Pay Securities and Kakao Pay Insurance.

By bundling services that were run separately into a single subscription product, Kakao has created a reason for users to use several Kakao services together. Kakao’s push to strengthen connections between services is also extending to AI.

◆ AI also moves into KakaoTalk, from conversation to "execution"

Kakao launched "ChatGPT for Kakao," which can be used inside KakaoTalk, in October last year. It applied "Kakao Tools," which links Kakao Map, Reservations, Gift and Melon, so AI answers lead to actual service use.

This year, it has expanded the scope of connections to external services such as Olive Young, Musinsa, Hyundai Department Store and MyRealTrip. It has strengthened AI’s role in finding the services users need inside KakaoTalk.

Kakao’s own AI service, "Kanana in KakaoTalk," is also increasing users based on KakaoTalk. Based on chat context, Kanana first suggests schedules and necessary information and supports product and place recommendations. Kakao aims to secure 10,000,000 monthly active users for AI services inside KakaoTalk by year-end.

Public services are also moving into KakaoTalk. Through the AI National Secretary, it supports searches and reservations for public facilities and inquiries and applications related to the National Pension Service.

The common point is that AI does not stop at providing answers. Kakao is placing "execution" at the core of its AI strategy, spanning from understanding user intent to search and recommendations and on to reservations, purchases and payments.

◆ Why KakaoTalk? People are already there

Behind Kakao’s choice of KakaoTalk as the center of multiple services is that it can leverage its existing user base. If it launches a separate service, it has to secure new user touchpoints, but putting functions inside KakaoTalk lets it reach existing users immediately.

It is not only that KakaoTalk has many users. The fact that user needs naturally emerge in everyday conversations also fits with AI.

The process of choosing a meeting place, picking a gift and finding food already takes place in KakaoTalk chats. If AI understands that context, it can connect directly to maps, reservations, gifting and payments. KakaoTalk’s strength is that people gather there, demand arises and it can be linked to actual services.

Kakao’s planned split-off is also in line with this direction.

In August, Kakao decided to split the company into KakaoAI and KakaoX through a spin-off. KakaoAI will take charge of AI, advertising and commerce centered on KakaoTalk, while KakaoX will focus on managing key affiliates and on investment and discovering new businesses.

It is a structure that separates business organizations and decision-making systems while leaving KakaoTalk as the center where users access services. It can be seen as a strategy to grow each business separately while connecting users through KakaoTalk.

KakaoTalk-based businesses also account for a large share of results. In the second quarter, Kakao’s platform division revenue rose 17 percent from a year earlier to 1.23 trillion won, while Tok Biz revenue increased 12 percent to 643.2 billion won.

Ultimately, the focus of Kakao’s strategy is shifting from making more services to getting its existing KakaoTalk users to use more other services together. AI is tasked with finding needed services and linking them, while membership provides a reason to repeatedly use multiple services.

How much Kakao converts KakaoTalk’s user scale into actual use and transactions in other businesses such as AI, commerce and content is expected to determine the results of its KakaoTalk-centered strategy.

An industry official said, "KakaoTalk’s broad user base is one of Kakao’s biggest strengths," adding, "In the end, what matters will be how naturally it connects various services and leads them to actual use."