Shinsegae General Meeting: "Promoting Digital Innovation... Maximizing Strengths"

AI, NFT, and App Utilization to Improve Payment Services
Introducing the Unprecedented 'Future Retail'

Son Young-sik, CEO of Shinsegae, stated on the 23rd, "We will actively promote digital innovation to maximize the strengths of offline retail."

In his greeting at the shareholders' meeting held at Post Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul, CEO Son said, "Through various activities to improve customer convenience such as membership, gifts, and payment services, we will showcase a 'Future Retail' that has never been seen before." The plan is to enhance existing offline marketing by utilizing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), non-fungible tokens (NFT), and the Shinsegae application (app).

Son Young-sik, CEO of Shinsegae [Photo by Shinsegae].

Shinsegae recorded sales of 1.8657 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 348 billion KRW last year. CEO Son emphasized, "Despite numerous internal and external challenges and uncertainties in 2022, we achieved record-high performance for the second consecutive year. The Gangnam branch solidified its top position through renewal, achieving transaction volume of 2.8 trillion KRW, and the Daejeon Art & Science branch also established itself as a landmark in the central region by attracting 24 million visitors within one year of opening."

However, this year, the base effect from the post-COVID-19 reopening is expected to significantly diminish, and consumption sentiment is anticipated to weaken amid accelerating inflation driven by interest rates and prices. Rapid changes in the consumption environment and demographic structure are greatly impacting customer value and consumption trends, and competition across industries is expected to intensify further.

CEO Son stated, "Despite difficulties, Shinsegae will focus on the core value of 'customers' and solidify the foundation for sustainable growth. To actively respond to the changed consumer lifestyle and segmented demands after COVID-19, we will utilize various channels."

Along with promoting digital innovation, the company plans to secure stable profits. Given the expected challenging business environment this year, it intends to engage in proactive crisis management through strategic and efficient allocation of resources. CEO Son said, "Along with activities to improve cash flow such as financing and prioritizing investments, we will actively improve areas where work processes can be made more efficient."

He added, "We will finalize new projects on secured sites and thoroughly implement strategies that can overwhelmingly outperform competitors in terms of profitability and growth potential, while continuously discovering new future growth engines."

At the shareholders' meeting, Shinsegae appointed Gwak Se-bung, a former member of the Fair Trade Commission and advisor at Kim & Chang law firm; Kang Kyung-won, former First Deputy Auditor of the Board of Audit and Inspection; and Kim Han-nyeon, former head of the Busan Regional Tax Office, as outside directors. Additionally, a clause was added to related regulations allowing foreign executives to be exempt from severance pay provisions through separate written agreements.