Beyond Dawn Delivery... Challenging Top-Tier Distribution with 'Instant Delivery'

[Person] Huh Yeon-su, Vice Chairman of GS Retail
Integrates Home Shopping and Existing Distribution Businesses
Combines Yogiyo Delivery Network to Overcome Quick Commerce Business Limits
Plans 1 Trillion Investment in New Businesses Over Next 5 Years ... Targets 25 Trillion Sales by 2025

"There is no other distribution company that can create synergy by combining over 16,000 offline platforms nationwide with digital and home shopping commerce except GS Retail."

Hyunsoo Heo, Vice Chairman and CEO of GS Retail, has embarked on expanding the company’s scale by acquiring Yogiyo just over a month after the integrated launch with GS Home Shopping. Focusing on the 'quick commerce (instant delivery)' business to connect online customers based on offline platforms such as convenience stores and supermarkets nationwide, he confidently aims to quickly rise to the industry's 'top tier.'

Digital Strategist with a Background in Distribution

Vice Chairman Heo is the fourth son of Heo Shingu, Honorary Chairman of GS Retail, and grandson of the GS Group founder, the late Heo Man-jung. He is a CEO with an engineering background, having graduated from Korea University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and earned a master's degree in Computer Science from Syracuse University in the United States. Since joining LG Sangsa in 1987, he has been dedicated to the distribution business, holding positions such as Head of New Store Planning at LG Distribution (now GS Retail), Head of Sales for the Convenience Store Division at GS Retail, and concurrently serving as MD Director and Head of Information Services.

In 2010, Vice Chairman Heo restructured the business by selling department stores and large marts, focusing on convenience stores and corporate supermarkets (SSM). He has actively pursued new growth engines for GS Retail, acquiring a 67.56% stake in Parnas Hotel in 2015 and 50% of Watsons Korea from AS Watsons in 2017. He launched the online grocery shopping mall GS Fresh to significantly strengthen online channels, and developed the flagship convenience store GS25 into the industry leader by focusing on store sales and profitability. He is recognized as a leading third-generation GS Group owner with strong practical skills and expertise in digital strategy.

Establishing Quick Commerce Competitiveness

Vice Chairman Heo acquired 100% of Delivery Hero Korea, which operates Yogiyo, together with private equity firms Affinity Equity Partners and Permira Consortium, for 800 billion KRW. GS Retail’s total investment in Yogiyo amounts to 300 billion KRW. He plans to launch a full-scale quick commerce business linked with convenience stores, supermarkets, and online grocery malls as soon as the payment is completed within this year. The strategy is to combine Yogiyo’s delivery network with over 16,000 retail stores and more than 60 logistics centers to become the number one quick commerce operator.

Earlier, GS Retail decided that building a quick commerce system was essential to expand synergy and connect online and offline businesses. In April, it acquired a 19.53% stake in Mesh Korea (Booroong). In June, it launched 'Udeal,' a dedicated walking delivery order app for GS25 and GS The Fresh. With the addition of the Yogiyo acquisition, GS Retail can now implement an 'instant delivery grocery shopping' service that goes beyond next-day, dawn, and same-day delivery by linking GS The Fresh nationwide with quick commerce.

Furthermore, by integrating home shopping and existing distribution businesses, GS Retail can expand product assortment, which was considered a limitation of quick commerce, while offering reasonable prices and benefits. The company also explains that this can be linked to new businesses such as the food ingredient distribution market, estimated at 70 trillion KRW, and home meal replacement (HMR) subscription services.

1 Trillion KRW Investment by 2025

Vice Chairman Heo plans to increase GS Retail’s sales to 25 trillion KRW by 2025 through expanding logistics business centered on e-commerce. Over the next five years, the company will invest a total of 1 trillion KRW in digital commerce, infrastructure construction, and new businesses.

Earlier this year, GS Retail added delivery agency services, freight transportation-related services, freight forwarding, and telecommunication sales brokerage to its business objectives at the shareholders’ meeting. Vice Chairman Heo stated, "We will focus on maximizing synergy effects between online and offline channels through the absorption merger of GS Retail and GS Home Shopping. We are fully willing to pursue mergers and acquisitions if good opportunities arise."

Last month, together with private equity firm IMM Private Equity, GS Retail jointly acquired a 95% stake in 'Pet Friends,' Korea’s number one specialized pet mall. This acquisition was made with the same strategic background. Pet Friends plans to evolve beyond a simple specialized mall into a pet lifestyle platform by partnering with leading companies to introduce new services and brand collaboration products. In April this year, it launched the pet specialty online shopping mall 'About Pet' and recently agreed to invest a total of 21.5 billion KRW with SBS.

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