Homeplus Sets 2.4 Trillion KRW Online Sales Target Within 3 Years... Declares All-Round Player Role

Homeplus has declared its leap forward as an all-round player combining online and offline businesses.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Homeplus declared on the 4th its leap forward as an all-around player combining online and offline businesses. It is embarking on a ‘pivot play’ to become a full-fledged online powerhouse once again. While expanding its online business, it plans to actively utilize its superior existing offline store hardware compared to competitors.

In fact, the average sales area of Homeplus stores nationwide is 4,386㎡, the largest among the three major large marts (competitors range from 1,438 to 1,725㎡). The number of stores with a sales area of over 3,000㎡ is also overwhelmingly higher at Homeplus with 81 stores, compared to competitors’ 13 to 16 stores. Additionally, the total area of all stores nationwide includes 170,000 pyeong of back-end (warehouse) space and 740,000 pyeong of parking lots, equivalent to 420 soccer fields (910,000 pyeong).

After being acquired by MBK Partners, Homeplus remodeled idle spaces such as parking lots within existing stores to create online-exclusive logistics centers called fulfillment centers, expanding the logistics functions and scale of stores in regions with high online delivery demand. Following the opening of the Incheon Gyesan store fulfillment center in 2018, fulfillment centers were installed in three large marts including the Anyang store and Suwon Woncheon store in 2019. These three locations have driven explosive sales growth. As of last year, online sales at the Woncheon store increased by 125% year-on-year, Anyang store by 101%, and Gyesan store by 10%.

One of the biggest advantages of Homeplus Online is freshness. ‘Housewife level 9’ pickers (shopping specialists) personally select products displayed at each store just as customers would shop in person, then send them to delivery vehicles, which deliver the products at the customer’s desired delivery time.

The delivery vehicles operate with a three-compartment system for room temperature, refrigerated, and frozen goods, so the time refrigerated or frozen products are exposed to room temperature is very short?from the moment the delivery driver steps out of the vehicle to the customer’s front door. Ice cream can also be delivered online, with less room temperature exposure time than if the customer bought it directly from a local convenience store.

Homeplus expects its online business sales to approach 1 trillion KRW in the 2020 fiscal year. Through steady investment, business structure reorganization reflecting trends, and expansion of nationwide delivery networks, Homeplus plans to significantly grow its online business scale. Accordingly, within the next three years, the number of pickers will increase from the current 1,900 to 4,000, and cold chain delivery vehicles will grow from about 1,400 to 3,200, greatly expanding delivery capacity. Through this, Homeplus aims to achieve online sales of 1.3 trillion KRW this year, 1.8 trillion KRW next year, and 2.4 trillion KRW by 2023.

A Homeplus official said, “We will focus on the ‘pivot play’ for a rapid transition toward customers nationwide based on offline infrastructure and leap forward as an ‘All-line (Online+Offline)’ powerhouse.”

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