Startup ants, this free commercial analysis service is also useful (feat. KT)[퓨처클립]

It is an era in which data is’gold’. These days, advertising and marketing of large corporations are also optimized with the results of big data analysis. On the other hand, for small business owners who are overwhelmed by store operation alone, big data is the cake of the picture. Many of them still rely on’persimmon’ or pay expensive business consulting fees. Technology is advancing day by day, but the digital divide by class is getting wider, and KT has worked hard to close this gap.

Launched by KT in October 2020,’Goodbye’ is a service designed to ease the grievances of small business owners and allow anyone to enjoy the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI)-based big data commercial analysis. Currently, all functions are provided for free, and you can sign up on the product page for small business owners on the KT website.

“The existing big data analysis services were mostly understandable by experts, so it was difficult for the general public to use it. On the other hand,’Goodbye’ is a big data commercial analysis service that focuses on making small business owners easy to understand and use.” Lee Jong-hun, managing director of KT’s AI-Big Data Convergence Business, has repeatedly emphasized that the popular store is a completely user-centered service.

As I watched the actual service demonstration during the interview, as Lee said, it was designed to be used by anyone without specialized knowledge in data analysis. Instead of cumbersome apps, it was built around accessible mobile pages, and a PC version is currently being prepared. After registering the store, you can periodically receive various analysis information about your business area through a text message sent by KT.

Managing Director Lee explained, “The best feature is the application of the technology of’building-level commercial area analysis’.” In general, it is the standard to divide a specific area by one of N in a commercial district. However, according to Lee, the commercial district should be set based on the’floating population flowing into my store’. For this reason, the’Best Street Service’ measures how many people have passed in front of the store, centering on my store, and analyzes it as a commercial area. It is KT’s patented technology, and its strengths are that it can make an active response strategy to the floating population and their inflow channels that vary according to monthly and seasonal characteristics, and that it can reduce the wasted marketing costs for wrong areas.

It provides more diverse and practical analysis data than you might think. Based on changes in the commercial district and floating population, potential customers’ △age group △gender △inflow time period, etc., are provided in text and graphs. It is also interesting that you can statistically check not only the commercial district of my store, but also the number and average sales of stores operating the same industry as mine in the same region. We believe that just by comparing sales and customer composition with nearby stores, we can make a meaningful sales strategy. You can also check the composition status and sales changes of other industries in the region, all of which are data that were not easily measured or easily known by individuals.

When asked how such data was collected, Lee replied, “As KT is a mobile communication company, it is easy to obtain data on the movement patterns of customers, and payment data collected from affiliates can be used.” Of course, they are all legal collection and processing procedures.

KT’s AI technology is the number one contributor to the real value of the collected big data. When you connect to each service tab provided by the shop, there is a box called’Goodbye TIP’ at the top. This is a function that AI processes the analysis results into sentences without having to manually read the various analysis data provided in the tab. Managing Director Lee said, “We drastically eliminated unnecessary data and made it consist of easy-to-read sentences,” said Lee. “It is also a feature that it offers a personalized sales strategy to anyone kindly.”

In addition, through the Trends and Issues menu, Hana Shop provides strategies and news that small business owners can refer to in their sales in the form of reports. In the case of’Goodbye X Miracletter’, you can find out what kind of sales are popular among small business owners not only in Korea but also overseas, and the secret of their success.

Why does KT provide such a service for free, which required considerable cost and effort? Managing Director Lee said, “KT CEO Hyun-mo Koo’s strong will was at work.” “As Corona 19 is a difficult situation for everyone, let’s contribute to society with services that KT can do well,” said CEO Koo. It is also part of strengthening ESG (corporate environmental, social responsibility, transparent structure) management. It’s ridiculous, but Lee added, “We decided to free service with tears,” and added, “I actively sympathize with the purpose of CEO Koo.”

Although the service is still in its infancy, users’ reviews are also positive. Some community users expressed satisfaction, saying, “It seems that it will be helpful to know only the age and time zones of the nearby commercial districts”, “It was difficult to analyze the commercial districts, but it seems to be a great help”, and “Good IT platform”.

Various additional services are expected to be added in the future. Currently, the function of distributing marketing means such as discount coupons by text to potential customers passing by the store, and providing information on restaurants that locals and foreigners visit a lot are in the planning stage. From the perspective of business owners, it is expected that marketing efforts will be reduced, and customers will be able to easily find information on recommended restaurants based on data instead of advertising postings.

KT plans to provide corporate alliance services and some high-end services for a fee in the future, but all services up to now will continue to be provided free of charge. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve △big data-based commercial area analysis △providing convenient accessibility △saving marketing time and cost, which all small business owners can use without burden.

At the end of the interview, Lee said, “The era has come when AI can help the socially underprivileged.” “KT first targeted small business owners, but if we succeed, we expect AI services that help more and more vulnerable people at a lower cost in the future. “He said.