Vice Chairman Jeong Yong-jin: "Department Stores and Marts, Ultimately the Answer Lies with the Customers"

Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, Delivers 2020 New Year's Address on the 2nd

Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] "Ultimately, the answer must be found in customer complaints."

Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, emphasized the 'importance of customers' in his 2020 New Year's address announced on the 2nd.

Vice Chairman Jung stated, "A recession only means fewer opportunities, not that opportunities disappear entirely," stressing that prepared companies can achieve greater growth during a recession.

To this end, he urged focusing on three capabilities this year: a profitable business structure, fanatical focus on customers, and discovering new businesses for future growth.

He particularly emphasized that to respond to the rapidly changing distribution environment, the center must be held by the voice of the customer. He added that 2020 should be a year when the voice of the customer is heard louder and more clearly.

Vice Chairman Jung said that all answers lie in Shinsegae Group's management philosophy, emphasizing that the group's reason for existence is to find and improve what is unsatisfied or unfulfilled from the customer's perspective and to innovate.

From this perspective, he ordered all executives and employees in 2020 to reflect on the meaning of the management philosophy and to discover new growth opportunities from customer complaints. To achieve this, he stressed the need to break away from past customs.

Vice Chairman Jung quoted Malcolm Gladwell's saying, "To a worm living in a bitter wasabi, the world is all wasabi," warning that falling into the sweetness of customs will only erode the small world one lives in and inevitably lead to decline.

This is a caution against pursuing only efficiency within the framework of long-standing success, which stiffens flexibility and sensitivity of thought and causes the loss of the customer's voice. It means placing the customer at the center and continuously communicating with them to satisfy what they want.

To this end, he emphasized that instead of doing everything moderately well, each company must firmly secure the fundamental core competitiveness, the 'must-have' capabilities.

Shinsegae Department Store should become a 'customer lifestyle destination,' where each element provides a higher level of inspiration to customers. Emart must also develop capabilities as 'Korea's best grocery shopping guardian' through constant ultra-low prices, independent product development, and grocery store experiences.

Vice Chairman Jung emphasized, "In 2020, all Shinsegae Group businesses must devote everything to essential must-have capabilities so that opportunities can be found in customer complaints," and urged, "To turn crisis into opportunity, we must analyze meticulously and prepare thoroughly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.