Information And Communications Technology Solutions Provider SK Planet Talks About Online-To-Off-Line Businesses During Tech Planet Conference

SK Planet conducts Tech Planet conference wherein the information and communications technology solutions provider tackles online-to-off-line (O2O) businesses, Korea Herald reported on Wednesday.

O2O commerce is a business approach that aims to entice customers from online channels to physical stores, as defined by Investopedia. O2O discovers its customers through emails and online advertising.

The business strategy is considered "as a next big thing in the information technology, commerce and service sectors."

"The market values of Uber and Airbnb, both of which do not own a single taxi or hotel, exceed those of the existing leaders in the respective markets, Hertz and Hilton," says Park Ji Woong during Tech Planet conference on Wednesday.

The chief executive of investment firm Fast Track Asia adds that technological advancements would have great impacts on the traditional commerce businesses. Park presents a data during the conference which reveals that online commerce businesses are accountable for 15 percent of all commerce deals in Korea.

"The O2O businesses are just in the beginning stage, they will grow further," he adds.

On the other hand, SK Planet says machine-learning technology could be a major driver in boosting the company's O2O commerce platform, Korea Times noted on the same day.

"As machine-learning tech, which helps computers recognize real-life experiences, becomes more important, the online-offline boundary is blurring," SK Planet chief technology officer Jeon Yun Ho states during the conference.

He says that the company is planning to incorporate deep-learning methods into its mobile payment platform called Syrup Pay. Jeon adds that users will just have to take a photo of their credit cards to save the card information in their mobile phones.

"Computers can process more and more things in our real life, changing the way we live. SK Planet is also pushing to expand the O2O commerce businesses."

"For the past few years, we have launched services such as Syrup Wallet and Syrup Order, helping people interconnect online-offline."

Jeon goes on, "We have more than 14 million Syrup Wallet users, and have partnered with more than 60,000 retail stores of some 400 brands. We are seeking to adopt more various approaches to put together offline commerce and online service."