Emart Shortens Store Closing Time by One Hour from 11 PM to 10 PM

Business Hours End at 10 PM Starting April 3, Expanded to All Stores Nationwide
Increased Concurrent Morning and Afternoon Shifts...Improved Customer Service

Emart will adjust the closing time of its nationwide stores from 11 PM to 10 PM starting next month on the 3rd. This measure comes as the proportion of customers visiting stores at night decreases while the proportion of customers visiting during peak hours increases.

Emart announced on the 2nd that it has decided to open all its stores nationwide at 10 AM and operate until 10 PM starting April 3rd.

Among Emart's 136 stores nationwide, 23 stores have been operating from 10 AM to 10 PM since before December last year. Additionally, due to the winter season, from December to February this year, 43 more stores adjusted their closing time from 11 PM to 10 PM. These 66 stores will maintain the 10 PM closing time after March. Furthermore, the remaining stores that used to close at 11 PM will also adjust their operating hours to 10 PM starting April 3rd. However, four stores with high nighttime visitor traffic and foot traffic?Wangsimni, Jayang, Yongsan, and Sinchon stores?will operate until 10:30 PM.

Emart stated that the adjustment of operating hours reflects changes in customers' consumption patterns. The proportion of customers visiting Emart stores after 10 PM decreased from 4.4% in 2020 to 3.0% in 2022. With the establishment of the 52-hour workweek and a social atmosphere emphasizing work-life balance, commuting times have become earlier, and the time of day when customers visit large marts has shifted earlier as well.

While the proportion of nighttime visits has decreased, customer concentration during peak times has increased. An analysis of store sales proportions by time slot from 2020 to 2022 showed that 2 PM to 6 PM was the largest segment. On weekdays, it accounted for 40%, and on weekends, it approached half. Last year, the proportion from 2 PM to 6 PM increased by 0.3 percentage points on weekdays and 1.4 percentage points on weekends compared to 2020.

Emart believes that adjusting operating hours can improve the quality of customer service during peak times. Store staff are divided into morning and afternoon shifts, and with the adjusted hours, the overlap time between these shifts increases, resulting in more staff available for customer service and faster product and store maintenance, according to the company.

Additionally, Emart cited improvements in employee work-life balance, energy savings, and reductions in electricity and gas costs as effects of the operating hours adjustment.

However, the adjustment of operating hours is not permanent and will be flexibly managed according to circumstances. During major events and summer vacation periods, when overall customer numbers increase and nighttime visits rise, operating hours may be extended to enhance customer convenience.

Kang Hee-seok, CEO of Emart, said, “We are implementing the adjustment of operating hours based on changes in customer consumption patterns to improve service quality. We will lead changes in the retail industry that satisfy both customers and employees.”

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