Naver said on Tuesday it will beta launch a Smart Store seller-only group buying partnership feature on its creator affiliate business platform Brand Connect.

With the update, Smart Store sellers and creators can use a creator affiliate platform that covers branded content, Shopping Connect (affiliate marketing) and group buying within Brand Connect.

The newly introduced group buying feature is an all-in-one management tool that handles the entire process on a single platform, from collaboration proposals and negotiations on terms to product registration, performance aggregation and settlements.

Group buying has been fragmented, with sellers and creators contacting each other individually by email or social media to coordinate terms and manually checking sales performance for settlement. Naver integrated the process, sharply reducing operating resources and increasing transparency.

Sellers can receive automatic recommendations for creators whose product categories and sales capabilities match their own. They can also set detailed terms differently by creator for the same product, including dedicated discount prices, commissions and sales periods, enabling flexible marketing. All costs, including commissions and advertising fees, are automatically settled within the platform.

Creators can also directly check their sales performance and expected earnings through a dashboard linked in real time to Smart Store order data. They can move beyond a passive structure of waiting for campaign companies to share results and adjust promotional strategies proactively by tracking sales trends by time of day.

Kim Sun-min, planning leader for Naver Brand Connect, said the group buying feature follows the affiliate model Shopping Connect and is a sales support tool that helps sellers achieve explosive sales growth in a short period through collaboration with creators. Kim said earnings through Brand Connect in 2025 rose 141 percent from a year earlier at the creator level, and more opportunities for higher earnings are expected this year with the launch of the group buying feature.

Kim stressed that after the beta launch of group buying, the company will gather a range of feedback and gradually upgrade more features to help stores and creators grow.

To mark the beta launch, Naver will provide Smart Store sellers free access to the group buying feature for all of 2026. It also plans various promotions, including full support for payment settlement fees and incentive payouts for top performers.