As the Mart Shopping Basket System Changes... Why Are the 'Card Kkang' Hidden Experts in an Uproar?

Emart Changes Shopping Basket System from May
Rental to Sales... "Design Changed"
Netizens Debate... "Illegal" vs "Smart"

A major supermarket chain has decided to revamp its shopping basket operation system starting in May. This is due to an increase in people using shopping baskets for so-called 'card kkang'.

Large shopping basket sculpture installed at the entrance of Emart Seongsu branch.
[Photo by Emart]

On the 20th, online communities and social networking services (SNS) focused their attention on the changes to Emart's shopping basket operation system. Emart announced that from May 27, shopping baskets will be changed from rental items to items for sale. Until now, customers could submit their receipt after purchasing a basket and get a cash refund, but from now on, they must purchase the basket without any refund.

As a result, netizens who used shopping baskets for 'card kkang' have voiced their dissatisfaction. Card kkang refers to embezzlement activities such as making false payments as if purchasing goods, overpaying, or refunding to collect payment amounts. Netizen A said, "The 500-won shopping basket could be refunded regardless of quantity, whether it was one or 100," adding, "If you buy 100 baskets for 50,000 won and take them, the 50,000 won payment record remains, and the refunded 50,000 won cash goes into my pocket." However, now that shopping baskets are changed to items for sale, payment is made, and to get a refund, payment cancellation must be done through the receipt. This means card kkang can no longer be done.

There is also debate among netizens regarding card kkang. The majority expressed critical responses such as, "Here is a case where goodwill was exploited for malicious purposes," "I wondered why the policy suddenly changed, now I see the background," "It's surprising that people think like that," and "Depending on the card, there might be a 10% cashback, so it seems they abused that. Clever."

On the other hand, some netizens responded, "It's not illegal, so what's the problem," "Those people are a very small minority, most probably just refunded normally," and "They are using their own money, so what's the issue?"

Emart explained the changes by saying, "We considered the environment by using recycled PET bottle materials and produced baskets in various sizes for convenience," adding, "We redesigned them so they can be used in daily life as well."