Now It's the Era of 'Omnichannel'... "Simultaneous Online and Offline Strategy"

CJ Olive Young, 2.4x Increase in Today Dream Orders
Online Mall Attempts Offline Expansion
Securing Both Experience and Accessibility... Directly Linked to Platform Competitiveness

A staff member at a CJ Olive Young store is handing over an "One Day Dream" order product to a delivery person.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, the distribution industry has been embracing the ‘omnichannel’ strategy, which provides a seamless consumer experience across both online and offline channels. Offline businesses are expanding into online markets, while online businesses are venturing into offline spaces, actively targeting consumers.

According to CJ Olive Young on the 27th, orders for the instant delivery service ‘Oneul Dream’ in the first half of this year increased 2.4 times compared to the same period last year. Oneul Dream is a service that uses Olive Young’s nationwide stores as logistics hubs to dispatch products ordered online from stores near the delivery location. During the same period, the number of uses of the service for picking up and returning online-ordered products at nearby stores also steadily grew, surpassing approximately 400,000 cases. Olive Young is also conducting a branding campaign called ‘Gago X Kyeogo, Ollyeongimyeon Doeneun Sesang’ to strengthen its identity as an omnichannel platform.

Omnichannel construction is frequently attempted in sectors such as fashion, beauty, and food because securing both offline ‘experience’ and online ‘accessibility’ directly relates to platform competitiveness. According to a survey on the opinions of the 2030 generation regarding current issues in the distribution market, released by the Federation of Korean Industries in September last year, the highest response (36.2%) to the question about the desirable business direction for offline retail stores was ‘exploratory stores where customers can experience products before purchasing online.’

Online malls are attempting to enter offline markets. Market Kurly, a dawn delivery company, opened an experiential cultural space called ‘Off Kurly’ in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on the 8th. Off Kurly is Market Kurly’s first offline space where it directly meets consumers and operates programs explaining gourmet food, humanities, and art content. Fashion platform W Concept is accelerating the establishment of offline bases by opening stores in Shinsegae Department Store’s Gyeonggi, Daegu, and Gangnam branches. This offline expansion is also expected to have a halo effect that increases online sales. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), web traffic increases by an average of 37% each time an online shopping mall opens a new store.

An industry insider said, “As consumption rapidly shifted online during the COVID-19 pandemic and then returned to offline after social distancing measures were lifted, omnichannel competition has emerged as a new key issue,” adding, “In the future, whether or not omnichannel implementation is successful will be a crucial factor determining a company’s survival.”