Emart is rapidly converting its private brand (PB) specialty stores, "No Brand," into bases for quick commerce services. As the quick commerce market expands rapidly across the retail industry, driven by demand for short-distance grocery shopping, Emart is also investing in the adoption and expansion of quick commerce at the group level.
According to Emart on Friday, No Brand launched quick commerce services at four directly operated stores through the delivery app "Baedal Minjok" in late April, then expanded the number of available stores to 100 within a month. Emart had initially described the quick commerce service introduced at four directly operated stores as a pilot operation, but soon decided to formally implement the service and rapidly expanded the number of available stores. No Brand's quick commerce works by having an employee pick up the ordered products when an order comes in through Baemin, then delivering them to the customer via a quick delivery driver.
Emart's decision to rapidly expand the service stems from a market response strategy it had prepared in advance. In March, Emart commissioned consulting on its quick commerce entry from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). At the time, when Emart's internal analysis and the entry strategy proposed by PwC turned out to be essentially identical, Emart launched No Brand's quick commerce service, sources said.
Emart determined that quick commerce is a new market that can improve logistics efficiency and attract customers, at a time when the growth rate of offline stores is slowing due to the growth of e-commerce. Emart has in fact expanded quick commerce services not only at No Brand but also at the hypermarket division Emart, the supermarket (SSM) Emart Everyday, and the convenience store Emart24, through external platforms or SSG.com. All retail channels except the warehouse-style discount store Traders have entered the quick commerce market.
In particular, Emart began quick commerce in 2024 and currently provides the service at 106 stores. This exceeds its target of 90 quick commerce stores for the second quarter of this year. "No Brand currently has about 250 stores in total, and we expect to provide quick commerce at 150 stores within the year," an Emart official said.
The quick commerce ecosystem is rapidly expanding as several factors converge, including the recent establishment of a delivery culture, increased demand for small-scale grocery shopping among single-person households, and the spread of online purchasing. According to market research firm Statista, the domestic quick commerce market is expected to grow from about 4.4 trillion won last year to about 6 trillion won by 2030.
Individual companies are also seeing steep sales growth. Quick commerce sales at the supermarket (SSM) GS The Fresh surged 32.8% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. The share of quick commerce in total sales reached 10%, recording double digits for the first time. Baedal Minjok's quick commerce service B Mart recorded its highest-ever order count in the first quarter of this year, up 37% from the same period a year earlier.
Quick commerce, which had been spreading around grocery shopping demand, is now expanding into the household goods sector, including convenience stores, Daiso and home shopping. Convenience stores GS25 and CU partnered with Coupang Eats to establish a "24-hour quick commerce" system starting May 19. Previously, there was a delivery gap between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., but this was eliminated, mainly in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and metropolitan cities. They plan to later expand the 24-hour quick commerce service area nationwide.
Daiso is also making a full-scale push into the quick commerce market. Starting May 14, Daiso expanded the operating area of its instant delivery service "Today Delivery" from the three Gangnam districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa to all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul. The strategy is to utilize its approximately 1,600 offline stores nationwide as urban micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs).
The home shopping industry is also joining the quick commerce competition. Shinsegae Live Shopping unveiled a new service called "Now Quick" on May 28, which delivers broadcast products ordered by customers directly throughout Seoul. The delivery service was developed by linking CJ Logistics' "Baro One" service with Shinsegae Live Shopping's logistics system. It allocates volume by region based on pre-analyzed sales data and ships immediately after a broadcast ends.
Now Quick has set its service target at arrival within five hours after a broadcast. Some customers located near logistics hubs are expected to receive deliveries within an hour. It will first operate throughout Seoul, with plans to expand delivery destinations to Gyeonggi Province. The service will first apply to products that can be used or eaten immediately upon receipt, such as beauty products and room-temperature foods, and will later expand to fashion products and others after assessing customer response.
