In the COVID-19 Contactless Era, Contrarian Companies... Increasing Competitiveness by Targeting Offline Markets

Strengthening Online and Offline Synergy... Retail Industry's Contrarian Approach Enhances Corporate Competitiveness

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] Amid the rise of contactless consumption due to COVID-19, some contrarian companies aiming for growth through offline stores have emerged. They are making various efforts to enhance price competitiveness by utilizing nationwide offline stores as a logistics network or to provide a convenient shopping experience by strengthening diverse experiential services in stores.

Cleantopia is enhancing logistics efficiency centered on offline stores to increase competitiveness in the laundry industry. The company explains that by strengthening the network between 135 laundry branches nationwide and over 3,100 stores, it provides faster, reasonably priced, high-quality laundry services.

To offer improved laundry services through the expansion of offline stores, Cleantopia has implemented a policy where the headquarters supports 50% of franchise card fees. If facility investments such as replacing old signboards are necessary, the headquarters supports up to 2 million KRW. .

Eco-friendly organic distributor Oasis Market is efficiently managing inventory by reducing fresh food waste rates through offline stores. Most dawn delivery companies secure products by forecasting order volumes. Unsold leftover inventory naturally leads to losses. However, Oasis Market reduces losses by selling leftover inventory at its own offline stores.

According to Oasis Market, the company achieved a cumulative operating profit of 4.3 billion KRW from the first to third quarters of last year. As of the end of last month, Oasis Market operates 53 offline stores. The company explains that by satisfying consumers' desire to see and purchase fresh food items directly, it is the only fresh food dawn delivery company to record a profit.

Secondhand trading platform Bungaejangter's offline store ‘Beugeujeuteu Lab’ No.1, opened in February last year at 'The Hyundai Seoul' in Yeouido, Seoul, attracted about 210,000 visitors over one year. The store's concept is ‘sneakers,’ a popular trading item on Bungaejangter. It offers a diverse experience where customers can see and enjoy their favorite items reflecting their tastes. Sneakers displayed in the store are tagged with QR codes linking online, providing easy access to product information and strengthening the connection between the app and the offline store.

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