Homeplus Strengthens Online and Offline Competitiveness through Data and Efficient Management

On the 3rd, Lee Je-hoon, President of Homeplus, is inspecting the Homeplus Special Mokdong branch in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Homeplus has embarked on strengthening its online and offline competitiveness through data-driven efficient management. The strategy is to optimize product assortments for each store and utilize stores as online delivery hubs to maximize sales.

On the 3rd, Homeplus CEO Lee Je-hoon stated in a New Year's message to all employees, "We achieved meaningful results in all areas last year," adding, "We will continue efforts to build online and offline competitiveness and growth engines to become a leading distribution company presenting a new paradigm."

Homeplus plans to renovate and reopen 17 large-scale mart stores within the year. The renovated stores will shift the ratio of food to non-food items from the existing 50:50 to 60:40, strengthening fresh food, which is an offline strength. This reflects the increasing proportion of fresh food sales at Homeplus over the past three years. From January to September last year, the average monthly purchase frequency per customer for fruit and livestock products reached 1.6 times.

By analyzing customer consumption data, Homeplus selected the top 10 fruits with an average sales increase of 20%. Based on this, they are planning differentiated products including seven major domestic fruits?watermelon, strawberry, apple, peach, oriental melon, grape, and mandarin orange?and three major imported fruits?imported grapes, cherries, and kiwi. Additionally, the number of Homeplus-designated farms has increased from about 70 to 700, offering around 40 products across all online and offline channels. Homeplus-designated farms are managed by buyers, technical managers, and partners from cultivation to harvest, providing customers with high-quality products.

The corporate supermarket (SSM) Homeplus Express is being transformed into a fresh and ready-to-eat specialty store. Since 2018, 159 existing stores have been renovated and reopened. The number of non-food products has been reduced, while fresh food, ready meals, and processed foods have been arranged to about 90% of the large mart level. With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic sustaining the home meal trend, the meal kit and salad zones have also been expanded. The 56 stores renovated this year have seen an average sales increase of 15% compared to before, receiving positive responses. Homeplus plans to continue expanding Homeplus Express fresh and ready-to-eat specialty stores within the year.

Homeplus is also strengthening its online capabilities through a direct-from-mart delivery method. Currently, 374 stores?including 121 large Homeplus marts and 253 Homeplus Express stores?serve as online stores. This means 80% of the total 467 stores are utilized as logistics hubs. Thanks to this, online sales have grown at an average annual rate of 20% over the past five years. Homeplus aims to increase daily online delivery orders to over 130,000 by 2025.

In October last year, Homeplus began a pilot operation of the Seven Order service at Yeongdeungpo and Yeongtong stores. This service focuses on the shopping pattern where over 92% of online customers choose same-day or next-day delivery. The same-day delivery reservation cutoff time was extended from 2 PM to 7 PM, and delivery hours were extended until midnight. As a result, average daily online sales increased by 14% and 18% compared to the previous three weeks at each store. Accordingly, the number of Seven Order exclusive vehicles at Yeongdeungpo and Yeongtong stores will be doubled within this month, and the Seven Order service will be expanded to 22 major stores nationwide by the first half of the year.

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