South Korea's supermarkets ramp up fresh-food and delivery services

GS’ one-hour delivery service saw a 457% surge in demand between December 2020 and March 2021.

To better cope with the changing face of the retail market, super supermarket (SSM) chains are strengthening their fresh food sections and launching near-distance delivery services, Korea Bizwire has reported.

Homeplus Express transformed about one third of its estimated 300 outlets nationwide to specialise in fresh food and simple meals. It expanded the share of food products, whilst reducing the share of miscellaneous household items at these stores.

At the same time, Lotte Super is replacing the signage of its stores into Fresh & Deli aiming to strengthen its fresh food and meal services. Taking advantage of the location of their stores, which are often close to customers, SSMs are also providing ‘1-hour delivery’ services.

GS Supermarket also launched a 1-hour delivery service in December last year using its stores in downtown areas as semi-dark stores in which a separate space in the back serves as a kind of logistics center.

The March sales of GS Supermarket’s 1-hour delivery service marked a 457% surge compared to its December 2020 figures.