Naver (NAVER)'s C2C (consumer-to-consumer) commerce platform Cream will apply the growth formula it has successfully used in its resale business to its ticketing business. To overcome the weaknesses of a late entrant, Cream first expanded its market share through a 'zero fee' policy, and once the business was on track, it began improving profitability. C2C commerce is a core business that Naver has identified as a future growth driver.
According to the IT (information technology) industry on the 6th, Cream will introduce ticket booking fees starting from the 30th. Fees will be charged per ticket, categorized as follows: △performances and sports events: 2,000 won; △theater: 1,000 won; △leisure and exhibitions: free. Full refunds are available on the day of booking, but after that, refunds will not be granted unless cancellation is due to seller-related reasons such as lack of inventory or inability to sell.
Cream launched its ticket booking service in 2022 and adopted a 'zero fee' policy to break into the ticketing market dominated by existing operators like NolTicket (Interpark), Melon Ticket, Ticket Link, and Yes24. As a result, Cream's ticket transaction volume increased 4.5 times year-on-year in 2024, followed by approximately threefold growth last year. With the ticket business now established, industry observers interpret the introduction of fees as an effort to cover operating costs and improve profitability.
Cream adopted a similar strategy in its core resale business. Cream first introduced fees for buyers in April 2022, just two years after its launch, during a period of rapid growth driven by attracting a large number of users. According to iGworks Mobile Index, Cream's monthly active users (MAU) in April 2022 reached 890,000, a 2.2-fold increase from the same month last year (390,000). Starting in August of the same year, Cream also began charging fees to sellers. As a result, Cream reduced its operating loss from 86.1 billion won in 2022 to 8.1 billion won last year.
Naver considers C2C commerce a future core business, analyzing it as a blue ocean compared to B2C commerce dominated by established giants like Amazon. In particular, C2C commerce relies heavily on active interaction among users through communities, and Naver has rich expertise from operating cafes and blogs. Another advantage is the ability to utilize user data accumulated through C2C commerce operations for AI development.
Naver views C2C commerce as a foothold for global expansion, calculating that users acquired through C2C commerce can be redirected to other Naver services. Accordingly, Naver has invested in and acquired overseas C2C platforms such as Poshmark (U.S.), Soda (Japan), and Vinted (Europe). Growth has also been rapid: Naver's C2C revenue increased 74.9% year-on-year and 13.3% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of this year.
A Cream representative explained, "We implemented a 'zero fee' policy to lower entry barriers for users during the early stages of the service, but as transaction volume and the number of performances handled increased, operating costs rose due to the need for advanced booking infrastructure, payment and cancellation processing, identity verification, and measures against fraudulent bookings (macros). To ensure service stability and secure high-quality performances and content, we have set fees at industry-standard levels. Fee revenue will be reinvested in securing exclusive LINE partnerships and enhancing system convenience."
in TECH
