Large Supermarkets Bet on Ultra-Freshness... From Hoe and Sushi to Freshly Baked Bread

Online Mall-Linked Fast Delivery Competition
Freshness-Based E-Commerce Differentiation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Large supermarkets have started competing in fast delivery of sushi and bread by linking with online malls. This service delivers fresh products prepared at offline stores directly to customers' homes immediately upon order. It is part of a ‘super fresh strategy’ that dramatically enhances freshness, aiming to differentiate from other e-commerce platforms.

On the 3rd, Lotte Mart and Lotte On are operating sashimi and sushi immediate delivery services at 23 stores in the metropolitan area, Busan, Gwangju, and Jeju. When customers order sashimi or sushi through Lotte Mart Mall within Lotte On, seafood experts at Lotte Mart stores prepare the products and deliver them within two hours. To achieve this, Lotte Mart increased freshness by using freshly procured raw materials and newly hired seafood quality control experts at each store. Lotte On developed an ordering system and improved the delivery structure to make the service convenient for customers. As a result, sushi and sashimi sales increased by 77.4% from December 30 last year to January 26 this year compared to the previous year.

Emart and SSG.com are expanding their dawn bread service, where bakery products are baked directly at the mart and sold via same-day SSG delivery. Dawn bread is produced using an ‘order to bake’ method, where dough is prepared and cold-fermented in advance at Emart bakery corners from 7 a.m. daily, and baking starts only when a customer places an order. SSG.com then picks up the products immediately and begins the first delivery from 10 a.m., allowing customers to receive their orders at their preferred time. The products are sold exclusively online, and any remaining stock is discarded. Since the introduction of dawn bread, overall bakery sales increased by 25% from December 20 last year to January 19 this year compared to the previous month.

Homeplus is also strengthening its food delivery competitiveness through online direct mart delivery. If customers purchase Montblanc bakery products produced from 6 a.m. on the same day via Homeplus online before 2 p.m., they can receive same-day delivery. Currently, 60 products are available at 120 stores, and Montblanc sales increased by 42% last year compared to the previous year. Ready-to-eat foods such as sushi and fried chicken made in the morning at Homeplus stores are also popular. From the 1st to the 27th of last month, sales of freshwater eel sushi, premium whole shrimp sushi, and premium hearty sushi sets increased by 285%, 174%, and 156% respectively compared to the previous month.

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