[Exclusive] The Future of GS Retail, Revealed by 'The Pop'

Vice Chairman Heo Yeonsu Leads App Revamp... Expanding Online and Offline Synergy
Existing App Only Had GS25, GS The Fresh, and Membership Services
Integrated App Built Including Organic Specialty 'Dallisalda' and Direct Purchase Platform

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] GS Retail, under the direct leadership of Vice Chairman Hyunsoo Heo, is initiating changes to prepare for the 'post-COVID-19' era. GS Retail is launching a mobile application that integrates its subsidiary brands, aiming to expand synergy between offline and online businesses.

According to the distribution industry on the 16th, GS Retail's app 'The Pop' will reopen on the 17th after a revamp. The core of this revamp is that The Pop, which had been operated as a half-finished app including only GS25, GS The Fresh, and membership services, will be reborn as a true integrated membership app. GS Retail will add businesses that had been operated separately to the app and introduce various new services.

Food Culture Platform Integrated Membership App

The organic life store 'Dalli Salda' joins The Pop. Dalli Salda is an online mall specializing in eco-friendly and organic food products, operated by GS Netvision, a subsidiary of GS Retail, for the past year. However, from the 17th, the operator will change to GS Retail, and it will be integrated into The Pop. This is not just a simple integration process.

Dalli Salda will also launch a paid membership service. The paid membership service will operate at 3,900 KRW per month, and members who subscribe to this service will be able to purchase Dalli Salda products at up to 50% discounted member prices. Dalli Salda is expected to directly target 'Market Kurly,' which emphasizes eco-friendly products.

The Pop will also launch an overseas direct purchase platform specializing only in food. Sellers will enter the platform to sell their products, and this service will be provided only to paid members. However, unlike typical overseas direct purchases, free shipping will be offered, and delivery will be completed within one week. GS Retail will also implement same-day order and same-day delivery services leveraging its offline business strengths.

By actively utilizing logistics centers, GS The Fresh orders as well as products sold on Dalli Salda will be delivered on the same day for orders placed before 12 PM. Additionally, six scheduled deliveries per day will be conducted to respond precisely to the increased delivery demand after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice Chairman Hyunsoo Heo's Future Strategy Fully Reflected

The app revamp was reportedly directly led by Vice Chairman Heo. Considerable costs and time were invested accordingly. GS Retail invested about 20 billion KRW over more than two years for this revamp. Originally scheduled to officially launch in mid-last month, it was postponed once to the 13th of this month for caution and then delayed further for additional improvements.

Before this revamp, Vice Chairman Heo laid the foundation by establishing the Platform Business Unit (BU). The Platform BU is an organizational unit of the integrated offline business group based on the offline store networks of GS25, GS The Fresh, and Lalavla. It oversees three business divisions and is responsible for combining GS Retail's approximately 15,000 offline platforms with digital, online, and lifestyle service areas.

In the case of Dalli Salda, it was Vice Chairman Heo's top interest business, who also serves as CEO of GS Netvision. Dalli Salda was modeled after the U.S. organic specialty online mall 'Thrive Market.' Earlier, GS Retail invested 33.7 billion KRW in Thrive Market in 2018. Thrive Market, which operates a paid membership system at $5 per month, recently saw its sales nearly double due to the COVID-19 situation. GS Retail appears to foresee the success potential of Dalli Salda's paid membership service through this.

Starting with this app revamp, GS Retail plans to actively expand its online business next year. Earlier, Vice Chairman Heo expressed his intention to strengthen the online business at the shareholders' meeting in March. He emphasized, "We will provide better products to customers through the advancement of platform infrastructure," and added, "We will integrate currently separately operated online businesses and continuously expand category killers to strengthen the integrated platform brand power."

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