"Save Even 10 Won"... Large Mart Resumes Ultra-Low Price War

Homeplus Introduces Lowest Price Guarantee
Emart Rewards Difference Amount in eMoney

Customers are purchasing products at Homeplus Gangseo branch in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Amid the ongoing high inflation, the three major large-scale marts are fiercely competing on the lowest prices. This situation is reminiscent of the past when intense price competition occurred down to the 10-won unit.

On the 21st, Homeplus announced the introduction of a ‘Lowest Price Compensation System’ that compares and searches product prices of the three major large marts and rewards customers with the price difference if they purchase at a higher price elsewhere. Among My Homeplus membership members, customers who have downloaded the My Homeplus application (app) and purchase 1,000 representative products such as milk, snacks, beverages, refrigerated and frozen foods at a higher price than Emart Mall or Lotte Mart Mall will be credited with the difference in Home Money. The daily maximum credit limit is 5,000 points, which can be used at Homeplus Mart offline stores within 30 days after crediting.

According to Homeplus, the ‘AI Lowest Price’ system, implemented since last month, has received positive responses from customers, resulting in a significant increase in sales at Homeplus offline channels. The AI Lowest Price is a big data algorithm-based pricing system that lowers the price of 50 selected core products each week to the industry’s lowest price level. From the first day of implementation on the 25th of last month to the 18th of this month, sales at the top 10 stores increased by about 22% compared to the same period last year, and the number of customers increased by about 18%.

Earlier, Emart introduced a lowest price compensation system in April last year that compares prices for Coupang’s Rocket Delivery products and store delivery products from Lotte Mart Mall and Homeplus Mall, crediting the price difference as ‘e-money’ usable at Emart offline stores. At that time, Lotte Mart also implemented a policy to sell those products at the prices presented by Emart Mall but has currently suspended it.

A representative from a large-scale mart said, "We will fulfill the frontline role in price defense and establish ourselves as a trusted distribution channel for customers," adding, "We will continue to reduce customer burdens and expand benefits."

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