E-MART is accelerating store investment and product expansion despite a sluggish domestic offline retail market. Following last year, it is continuing new openings and remodels of existing stores this year, while also significantly increasing its ultra-low-price private label (PL) "5K PRICE" product lineup. The move is seen as an effort to further cement its No. 1 position among offline marts by expanding investment rather than cutting back even during an economic downturn.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 23rd, E-MART spent 333.1 billion won on capital investment in its mart institutional sector last year, up 55.8% from a year earlier. E-MART's capital investment expense fell 19.6% from 265.9 billion won in 2023 to 213.8 billion won in 2024, but then increased sharply again last year.
E-MART expanded its footprint last year by successively opening three stores: Traders Magok in February, E-MART Godeok in April, and Traders Guwol in September. At the same time, it reinforced the competitiveness of existing stores by remodeling locations such as Kintex, Dongtan, and Gyeongsan into the "Starfield Market" format.
The investment stance continues this year. It will remodel seven existing stores into mall-type locations with enhanced experiential content or into the Starfield Market format, and in the second half it plans to open a new Traders store in Uijeongbu.
E-MART is also focusing on strengthening price and product competitiveness. In August last year, it launched the private label "5K PRICE," with most items priced at 5,000 won or less, and introduced 162 products centered on processed foods and household goods. Recently, it sharply increased the 5K PRICE lineup to 353 items and expanded the categories to include small appliances under 10,000 won.
The industry views this as targeting Asung Daiso Co., which has drawn consumers with an ultra-low-price, single-price strategy. By moving away from discount-event-centric pricing and pushing a constant low-price lineup to the forefront, the strategy is seen as aiming to draw price-sensitive consumer demand back into stores.
Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, has also been visiting key stores since the start of the year, emphasizing the need to secure offline competitiveness. In January, Chung chose Starfield Market Jukjeon, E-MART's top-grossing store nationwide, as his first on-site management destination of the new year.
At the site, Chung said, "In a turbulent retail environment, I feel a strong sense of responsibility that Shinsegae Group must become the most trusted 'shopping mecca' in customers' daily lives," and added, "We will meticulously execute the overwhelming No. 1 strategy realized at locations such as Starfield Market Jukjeon."
Such offline-focused moves by E-MART somewhat run counter to recent conditions in the retail sector. According to sales trends by retail format compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, while online retail sales rose 11.8% last year, offline growth was only 0.4%.
In particular, large mart sales were mostly sluggish except in months with holiday effects such as Lunar New Year in Jan. and Chuseok in Oct., and fell 4.2% for the year. This marked a second straight year of contraction after 2024 (-2.4%). The share of large marts in total retail sales also dropped below 10% for the first time, to 9.8%.
Even so, E-MART's expanded investment appears to reflect a judgment that the competitive landscape among large marts has recently shifted somewhat in its favor. The securities industry cites potential spillover benefits from Homeplus Co.'s store reductions, signs of customer defection following Coupang's personal data issue, and political discussions about easing early-morning delivery regulations for large marts as favorable variables for E-MART.
Cho Sang-hoon, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp., said, "E-MART has a nationwide store network and logistics infrastructure, which limits the additional investment burden," and added, "As delivery expands, sales growth can be expected to translate into improved profitability through operating leverage."