Shinsegae’s Emart offers ‘e-money’ to customers

Shoppers can save up to 3,000 points by finding products sold cheaper elsewhere.

Shinsegae’s grocery chain Emart will be giving customers “e-money,” which is awarded if customers find the same product being sold elsewhere at a cheaper price, and calculated based on its price difference from its products, IGD reported.

The new policy applies to both its physical stores and its mobile app. Shoppers can save up to 3,000 points to be used within a period of 30 days.

Emart’s chief marketer Choi Hoon-hak said that the e-money move would serve as an opportunity to give Emart a price advantage.

IGD said that this serves as a direct challenge to Coupang, which launched a campaign in April offering a free trial of its subscription-based Rocket Delivery service.

Market Kurly, another key online player in South Korea, also announced its price guarantee program for more than 60 products. The retailer pledged to offer products such as rice, instant noodles, fresh vegetables, and fruits at lower prices than competitors. 

Although Emart singled out Lotte Mart and Homeplus as its main rivals in a statement, IGD pointed to online players as its real source of pressure.

Data from WiseApp showed that Coupang’s transaction reached $20m (KRW21.75t) in 2020, a 41% YoY jump. The total online sales of Coupang, Emart and Gmarket grew by 18.4% in 2020, whilst the country’s offline sales declined by 3.6%, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.