Large Supermarkets, Lowest Price Project... "Stabilizing Grocery Basket Prices" (Comprehensive)

Emart Launches Lowest-Priced Products Quarterly
Lotte Mart Offers Discounts on Essential Daily Items

The Limited product.
Photo by Emart

Large supermarkets are launching a lowest price project to stabilize shopping basket prices.

According to Emart on the 31st, starting from the 3rd of next month, they will begin The Limited Project, which selects fresh, processed, and daily necessities quarterly and offers them at the lowest price level. In the first phase, 48 items including 15 fresh foods, 27 processed foods, and 6 daily necessities will be sold up to 50% cheaper than the regular price until the end of March.

Emart lowered prices by purchasing up to five times the usual quantity from partners. They contracted to buy 60% of the partner's production volume for a tray of white eggs, reducing the average selling price by about 17%. CJ Hetbahn Asan Clear Rice was purchased in about three times the quantity and sold at about 25% discount compared to the regular price.

Emart innovated the cost structure by subdividing the process from production to sales of existing products and reducing costs at each stage through various methods. The Our Neighborhood Tteokbokki Original & Cheese 4 servings product reduced unnecessary packaging costs, and Ottogi Snack Noodles changed the package to a 10-pack product, lowering the price by 35 to 50%. Seaweed and wine quantities were secured in advance through pre-contracts, and when the price of Spanish thinly sliced pork belly rose, they newly discovered Dutch pork belly.

Customers are purchasing fruits at Lotte Mart Zeta Plex Jamsil branch.
[Photo by Lotte Mart]

Lotte Mart will offer lowest price level discounts on essential daily items starting from the 2nd. Grade 1 Korean beef sirloin (100g) will be available for 7,900 won, and Grade 1 Korean beef soup cuts and bulgogi (100g) for 2,990 won. Prices were lowered by pre-contracting 20 tons of sirloin and 40 tons of soup cuts and bulgogi at a time when Korean beef prices fell compared to the previous year.

Processed foods and non-food items will be offered at low prices from the 2nd to the 8th. They secured cost competitiveness by purchasing products with ample expiration dates at five times the usual quantity, storing them in their own large logistics center, and sequentially supplying them to stores. Popular processed food items such as frozen foods, beverages, and cereals will also have buy one get one free promotions.

A large supermarket official said, “In this era of high inflation, we will continue to introduce discounted products every quarter to contribute to stabilizing customers’ shopping basket prices.”