Line Corp., operator of Japan’s largest mobile messaging service, says its shopping mall application could become its biggest source of revenue, eclipsing sales from games and character stickers.
The Tokyo-based company, owned by South Korea’s Naver Corp., started the Line Mall app in December. It lets users buy and sell secondhand clothes and new products recommended by friends, Takeshi Shimamura, head of commerce and media, said in a recent interview.
More than 80 percent of Line’s revenue of JPY21.2 billion (USD194.9 million) for the quarter that ended in June came from sales of cute stickers and games used in its free messaging service, the company said. With 470 million users in 230 countries and the Mall app, Line is taking on billionaires Masayoshi Son and Hiroshi Mikitani, who started their own online shopping apps in 2011.
(Source: The Japan Times Online)