[Report] Delicious Festival Visited by Jeong Yong-jin... Filled with New Products and Services

Emart24's First Large-Scale Offline Event
Jung Yong-jin: "Must Focus Intensely on Customers and Products"
Stores Specializing in Alcohol and Strengthened Toy Sections 'Popular'

Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, is attending the Delicious Festival held at aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 8th, touring the exhibition hall. Photo by Emart24

"The solution lies in the field where customers and products exist."

Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, emphasized on the 8th at Emart24's 'Delicious Festival' held at the aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, that "The core of retail business is the customer, and products are the basic and essential elements that allow customers and retailers to communicate." He added, "In an era of uncertain business environments, by obsessively focusing on customers and products, investing, and innovating, we can overcome crises and seize opportunities for greater leaps." Vice Chairman Jung spent about an hour touring the event venue, listening to explanations firsthand, and tasting various food and beverages.

The Delicious Festival is a large-scale offline event held for the first time by Emart24. At the entrance of the product exhibition, staff wearing orange T-shirts welcomed visitors with "Welcome. This is Emart24." In the video media hall, dozens of franchise owners sat and watched a video depicting the journey of Emart24 while sharing conversations.

Various differentiated services were especially showcased. In the IT service hall, a smart cigarette vending machine was installed. A field official explained, "When you select cigarette purchase on the kiosk, available products appear. It can display everything from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes," adding, "Payment is made after adult verification." Next to it, the unmanned liquor vending machine called Yosulsuljang was equipped with a system that opens the door after adult and payment method verification, allowing customers to take out liquor and automatically pay when the door is closed.

At the Virtual Reality (VR) experience zone, visitors could immediately tour an Emart24 store on-site. After wearing the VR device and pressing a button, movement was possible, and the actual store was perfectly replicated. Many showed interest in various technologies such as portable terminals (PDA) and smart access authentication devices. In the marketing hall, visitors could experience the mobile application (app), the core of Emart24's O4O (Online for Offline) strategy. Lee Hong-gi, franchise owner of Emart24 Seongdong Yeonmujang branch, praised, "The headquarters seems to be making great efforts to introduce new services," adding, "Ordering and POS systems have been completely revamped with significant investment, which is great."

An Emart24 franchise owner is attending the Delicious Festival held on the 8th at aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, listening to an explanation about the portable terminal (PDA).
[Photo by Im Chunhan]

In the category killer hall, liquor-specialized stores and enhanced Playtoy stores attracted attention. Emart24 currently operates over 4,300 liquor-specialized stores. They handle various types of alcoholic beverages such as wine, whiskey, and highball, receiving positive responses from consumers. Character and figure products like Jjanggu and Sanrio were also exhibited. A field official explained, "What franchise owners like are products that customers can come looking for. If they order toys, store sales will definitely jump," to which a young franchise owner commented, "It would be great if they secure many popular figures from the internet."

In the trend food hall, beverage hall, and convenience food hall, various new products were available for tasting. Protein and protein chips reflecting the healthy pleasure trend, zero-calorie drinks, and low-calorie snacks were introduced. In line with the high-price era, cost-effective I'm Coffee's bitter coffee and sweet coffee were also showcased. Lee Hwaja, franchise owner of Goseok Terminal No.1 branch, said, "Our store is located in a place with high foot traffic, so we actually only stock bestsellers," adding, "There were many new products and I tasted several, and they were delicious. I plan to place orders when the products are released."

The 'Delicious Recipe Contest,' where products are made using franchise owners' recipes, was also held. Five dishes selected through a blind test were available to taste, and franchise owners could vote with stickers. Kim Jang-wook, CEO of Emart24, stated, "The Delicious Festival is a great opportunity to present Emart24's strategy and vision and to communicate through products," adding, "We will devote our efforts to developing good products and services that can be chosen by customers."