After pushing operational efficiency by closing low-revenue stores through last year, convenience store Emart24 is again moving to expand openings this year and is strengthening support for new stores. Rather than a reckless push for scale, it first improved its structure to raise per-store profitability, and is now expanding headquarters-level marketing support so that newly opened stores can establish themselves stably in their trade areas from the start.
According to the retail industry on the 24th, Emart24 has operated a support program since February for newly opened stores using the "Biz Profile" of the local life community platform Karrot (formerly Karrot Market). When a new store opens, it helps set up a Karrot Biz Profile and assists in producing promotional content so the store can reach nearby customers. For the first month after opening, it also offers a linked promotion that gives 2,500 Karrot points when paying with Karrot Pay on purchases of 5,000 won or more.
The Karrot Biz Profile is a local marketing channel that, when store information is registered on the platform, can inform nearby users about business hours, location, event information, and new product news. If a user sets the store as a "regular," they can continue to receive related news and benefits.
Emart24 is producing content tailored to each store's characteristics—such as instant coffee, instant ramen, private-label (PL) "Yellow" products, and membership benefits—and providing it to new franchisees. Previously, new franchisees often made flyers themselves or distributed promotional materials around the trade area, but the headquarters plans to ease the initial operating burden of new stores by supporting digital, local marketing.
Emart24 is strengthening support for new stores because, given the nature of the convenience store business, securing initial customers has a major impact on store profitability. As convenience stores are particularly dependent on nearby trade areas, it is important to quickly raise awareness among surrounding consumers and secure regulars. In particular, as a latecomer, Emart24 cannot rule out the possibility that a new store will become a low-revenue store if it fails to settle in early.
The support program is also showing results. Emart24 analyzed 67 newly opened stores operating a Karrot Biz Profile as of the end of April, and found that the number of newly secured regulars per store was about 7% of the chainwide daily average customer count. For a store with an average of 200 visitors a day, that translates to about 14 additional new customers.
By trade area, office districts were highest at 10.5%, followed by general residential districts at 9.6% and commercial facilities districts at 8.7%. Some stores recorded a scale of regulars secured through the Biz Profile equivalent to 26% of their daily average customer count.
Park Hwa-jeong, a franchisee operating Emart24 in Buk-gu, Gwangju, said, "In the early days of a startup, it's usually not easy even to let nearby customers know about the store, but it's reassuring that the headquarters supports promotions and marketing," and added, "Even after the Karrot Pay event ended, we have steadily shared our store-only discounts and new product news, and our regulars are gradually increasing."
While Emart24 focused on improving profitability rather than scale by closing low-revenue stores through last year, it is shifting back to an expansion stance starting this year. The number of Emart24 stores fell from 6,598 in 2023 to 5,510 at the end of last year. However, in the first quarter of this year, the count increased by four from the previous quarter, returning to slight growth.
Although the number of stores decreased, operating efficiency is improving. In the first quarter of this year, the number of Emart24 stores fell 10.4% from a year earlier, but the decline in sales was limited to 1.6%.
Kim Hana, head of brand marketing at Emart24, said, "For new stores, whether they secure initial customers has a major impact on the stability of future operations," and added, "We plan to expand a variety of marketing support programs that can lead to tangible customer inflows and revenue growth."