Kakao Mobility to pursue joint development with 4 major delivery services

South Korea's transportation company Kakao Mobility on Monday said it concluded a "delivery service business agreement for joint development of the 'last mile' industry" with four major delivery companies: Manna Planet, Super Hero, Delion Group and Dealver.

The last mile refers to the final step in product delivery to consumers. Kakao Mobility plans to connect the four companies to orders from Kakao T Walking Delivery, a service that transports items easy to deliver such as convenience store products, cosmetics and bakeries over short distances within a 1.5 km radius. The goal is to set up a "win-win" model with the sector and stimulate the market.

Kakao Mobility will develop and run a sharing platform that connects orders from Kakao T Walking Delivery by providing an open application program interface to the alliance.

Each of the four services will receive support allowing it to focus solely on quality management of delivery such as safe order fulfillment and training for suppliers.

Kakao Mobility said it expects its affiliates to rake in higher revenue and cut operating costs, while delivery drivers will earn more income.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com