Our 'core competitiveness' to grow in unpredictable situations is based on 'top customers.' Knowing 'top customers,' who always crave newness, is our core business. And having top customers recognize us is our competitive edge.
Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, emphasized 'the core competitiveness of satisfying top customers' as a key weapon to confront the crisis in his New Year address delivered on Feb. 2, 2025. The main message is to find answers in the core competitiveness that can overwhelm competitors.
Chung stated, '2025 must be a year where we must relentlessly contemplate and execute our core business.' Starting with a serious tone, he noted, 'The market situation is poor due to high inflation and recession,' adding, 'Even in such times, corporations must challenge themselves and grow.'
Chung spoke about the significant timing of 2025, stressing, 'Now is the right time for Shinsegae to innovate and change again.' He defined the core business as 'the growth engine that has made today’s Shinsegae Group' and stated that the core fuel of that engine is 'top customers.'
Top customers crave newness and feel great satisfaction through experiences that differ from the past. They are willing to incur expenses when corporations offer new values and innovations. They evaluate corporations based on how their lives improve through new experiences. The very entity that Shinsegae Group fears the most but must always look toward is the top customers.
Chung noted, 'Shinsegae's challenges have become our assets and elevated the quality of customers' lives,' stating, 'Customers who have experienced Shinsegae have become trend leaders and will never return to the past.' He urged that 'in 2025, we must respond first to the thirst of top customers and stubbornly execute the intrinsic DNA of Shinsegae' and called for a review of work methods to manifest innovative core competitiveness.
He referenced the maladies hindering organizational development, such as the avoidance of responsibility and paternalism, saying, 'Let’s reflect on whether we are considering ourselves as number one, rather than the essence of our top customers, and become arrogant.' He also advised to fear customers but not to be afraid of change.
Chung stated, 'Right now, we have no reason to hold back,' and ordered, 'Please read and implement where the top customers are heading in organizations and businesses with intensity.'
He concluded by saying, 'Let’s make the Shinsegae brand a source of customer pride,' and ‘Let’s spend a year that we are not ashamed of the 'Shinsegae-ness' we have nurtured.'