Oasis Market and E-Land Retail, "Business Partnership Focused on Practicality"
Oasis Market Coordinates Entry into E-Land Offline Channels Including NewCore Gangnam Branch
Kim's Club Utilizes Oasis Market Infrastructure to Launch Profitable Dawn Delivery Service
[Asia Economy Reporters Yuri Kim and Jinyoung Jeon] Oasis, which operates Oasis Market, and E-Land Retail, which owns Kim’s Club, are actively pursuing a strategic alliance with the joint goal of ‘expanding market share and reshaping the distribution landscape.’ In June, E-Land Retail acquired a stake in Oasis Market for 33 billion KRW and signed a business partnership agreement, agreeing to showcase each other’s products across their respective online and offline channels. They are also concretizing a cooperative model in the ‘profitable dawn delivery’ segment. Analysts say that the alliance is driven by the practical approach of the young CEOs in their early 40s, who prioritize business efficiency.
According to the distribution industry on the 10th, Oasis Market is currently coordinating the entry into E-Land Retail’s offline channels such as NC, NewCore, and 2001 Outlet. This will be Oasis Market’s first entry into other channels. The first location under discussion is NewCore Gangnam Branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul. This is part of the concretization of the fresh product sharing and platform linkage agreement signed between the two companies.
Oasis Market is an online and offline distribution platform specializing in organic fresh foods. Recently, it has been aggressively expanding not only its online channels but also its directly operated offline stores. Offline stores are advantageous not only for expanding customer contact points but also for managing online product inventory. Oasis Market currently operates 61 directly managed stores. The industry views this decision as unusual given that Oasis Market and Kim’s Club, which mainly handle fresh foods, are considered competitors. Starting with this channel entry, Oasis Market plans to target E-Land’s membership base of about 10 million people and expand marketing through 36 Kim’s Club branches nationwide.
Kim’s Club will leverage Oasis Market’s infrastructure to fully launch dawn delivery as early as next month. This is part of the mutual sharing agreement for operating logistics centers for fresh food delivery signed with Oasis Market. Since April, Kim’s Club has been experimenting with dawn delivery mainly in some metropolitan areas. In the second half of this year, it plans to apply Oasis Market’s self-developed smart IT technology-based logistics automation system to reduce costs and, together with Oasis Market, fully implement ‘profitable dawn delivery.’ The main products are relatively affordable and high-quality fresh foods secured through direct transactions with about 400 farms. Approximately 800 types of home meal replacements (HMR) and restaurant meal replacements (RMR) under the private brand (PB) ‘Off Price’ are also included. Kim’s Club plans to list these key products on Oasis Market’s online and offline platforms to increase customer contact points.
E-Land Retail recently decided to split its distribution business division into three companies to strengthen expertise. E-Land Holfood, centered on Kim’s Club, will operate independently after the split, aiming to strengthen cooperation based on faster decision-making and enhanced expertise. An E-Land Retail official said, “We believe that the market, which had some bubbles due to COVID-19 in the first half of the year, has now been sorted out. We will strengthen competitiveness in the distribution industry by partnering with Oasis Market, which shares the same business philosophy.”
Industry insiders say that the alliance between these two competitors in the distribution sector, breaking conventional stereotypes, was partly due to the meeting of young distribution CEOs focused on efficiency and results. Yoon Sung-dae, CEO of E-Land Retail, was born in 1981, and Ahn Jun-hyung, CEO of Oasis Market, was born in 1979; both are in their early 40s. CEO Yoon has experience in strategic planning and has served as CFO and CEO of E-Land Park. CEO Ahn also serves as CFO. The two companies plan to prioritize each other as partners for investment in large-scale business expansions such as facility investments, new business ventures, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A distribution industry official said, “The common goal of both companies is to enhance competitiveness in online and offline channels while expanding the stage to showcase their products. In a situation where the distribution industry structure is changing and market rankings are rapidly shifting, they will accelerate practical moves to expand their market shares, even if it means partnering with competitors.”
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