Naver said on Aug. 31 that transaction value for KurlyNmart, its online grocery service run with Kurly, rose about 10 times from the initial level in the first year after launch.

KurlyNmart combines Naver’s shopping user base and the Naver Plus Store with Kurly’s product sourcing and dawn delivery capabilities. It launched in September last year.

Repeat purchases were led by users in their 30s and 40s. Among customers who used KurlyNmart at least 10 times, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for more than 72 percent. The repurchase rate of at least 2 orders was also highest in that age group. Users in their 40s visited KurlyNmart on average more than once a week, it showed.

The share of transactions through the Naver Plus Store app was also high. More than 80 percent of KurlyNmart’s total transaction value came from the Naver Plus Store app.

The service added same-day delivery to its existing dawn delivery option. After introducing same-day delivery in February, the number of orders placed from 6 a.m. to noon rose 34 percent within a month.

Naver and Kurly will expand product recommendation features based on search, purchase and grocery-shopping patterns and review data accumulated over the past year.

It will first discover Smart Store products and sell them in KurlyNmart’s "N+ Selection". The service is structured so customers can receive products offered by Smart Store sellers through Kurly’s delivery network together with other KurlyNmart grocery items.

It will also refine recommendations of items of interest for each user based on search, click and purchase history collected from the Naver Plus Store. In the second half, it plans to broaden the scope to "discovery recommendations" that propose new grocery items reflecting users’ shopping interests and situations.

An example is recommending KurlyNmart meal kits or food to users who bought camping equipment on the Naver Plus Store.

KurlyNmart will hold a "KurlyNmart first anniversary festa" from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6.

Kim Pyeong-song (김평송), leader of Naver’s grocery and leisure business, said KurlyNmart is a partnership model that proved its competitiveness within a year of launch by combining the capabilities and experience of Naver and Kurly. He said the companies will continue to work together on products, logistics and marketing.