Cheil Worldwide × Emart, Pilot Operation of Special Carts and Antibacterial Gloves for Store Visitor Safety

A customer visiting Emart Pungsan branch is using a 'Light Saber' cart equipped with an LED sterilizer on the handle. (Photo by Cheil Worldwide)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Cheil Worldwide is introducing a unique idea to protect the safety and health of customers visiting Emart offline stores in line with the new normal era brought about by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

First, the ‘Light Saber’ campaign, which operates special carts equipped with sterilizing disinfectors on the handles, will be piloted at Emart Pungsan Branch until the 24th.

A Cheil Worldwide official who came up with the campaign idea said, “We focused on the fact that customers hold the cart handles for a long time when shopping at large marts and devised carts equipped with sterilizing disinfectors on the handles.”

Cheil Worldwide and Emart collaborated with sterilizer specialist company Sunwave to produce special carts equipped with LED sterilizers on the handles. When customers touch the handle, the LED sterilizer activates and emits harmless 405-nanometer ultraviolet (UV) sterilizing light. This sterilizing light kills 99.3% of all viruses in real time and sterilizes more than 90% of the hands holding the cart within 10 minutes.

It is also notable that the LED light source emits yellow light reflecting Emart’s brand color. During the campaign period, a total of 200 ‘Light Saber’ carts will be operated at Emart Pungsan Branch, and customers who upload certification photos of the carts on Instagram will receive gifts on a first-come, first-served basis.

Additionally, the ‘Safe Sale’ campaign, which distributes antibacterial gloves printed with coupons to customers visiting the store, will be piloted at Emart Gimpo Hangang Branch during the same period.

The ‘Safe Sale’ campaign is an idea to encourage customers to wear gloves inside the store by inserting coupons into antibacterial gloves. Some of these gloves contain temperature-sensitive coupons that change the coronavirus image printed on the right palm area into a discount coupon barcode in response to body temperature when the gloves are worn. When the barcode is scanned at checkout, customers can receive a 5,000 KRW discount on purchases over 70,000 KRW.

The ‘Safe Sale’ gloves are practical as they have antibacterial functions, allow smartphone touch, and can be reused after washing. Customers who upload certification photos wearing the ‘Safe Sale’ gloves on Instagram will also receive gifts on a first-come, first-served basis.

A Cheil Worldwide official said, “We hope that this idea, devised in line with the with-COVID era, will allow consumers visiting offline stores to shop with peace of mind and experience new shopping enjoyment.”

Meanwhile, Emart has been continuously striving to create stores where customers can feel safe since the early days of COVID-19. In April this year, ‘Customer Safety Guards’ were installed at checkout counters in over 150 stores to enable safe communication between customers and employees, and in May, Emart became the first large mart in Korea to attach antibacterial films to the handles of about 100,000 shopping carts nationwide. Going forward, Emart plans to continue various efforts to ensure customers can shop safely amid the COVID-19 situation, such as through the ‘Light Saber’ and ‘Safe Sale’ campaigns.

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