"5,000 Won Is Enough for a Full Dinner"... 5K PRICE Cheaper Than Online [On Site]

"Ultra-Low Price" Grocery Lab at Emart: 5K PRICE
New Private Label for Groceries Launches Nationwide
162 Products Priced Under 5,000 Won
89,000 Packs of Spanish Pork Neck (500g) Sold
Smaller Sizes and Quantities than Existing Private L

"5,000 won? That's OK!" "Shocking grocery shopping"...

On September 4, upon entering an Emart store in the Seoul metropolitan area, these phrases, written in a blend of pink and white fonts on a sky-blue background, immediately caught the eye among the piles of products. To make it easier for consumers to recognize, additional "OK Price (5K PRICE)" signs were printed on the top and bottom of the display shelves. One section of the shelves, where national brands of dairy, beverages, sauces, noodles, and processed foods were displayed, was occupied by these signs and related products. Finding these markers among tens of thousands of products felt almost like playing hide-and-seek.

5K PRICE, a specialized ultra-low-cost private label (PL) grocery brand, is displayed at Emart stores. Photo by Kim Heungsun

5K PRICE is a grocery-specialized private label newly introduced by Emart and the supermarket chain Emart Everyday at around 370 stores nationwide since August 14. Focusing on processed foods and daily necessities, this brand pursues ultra-low prices, with all products priced at 5,000 won or less. Instead of creating a separate section, products are displayed on dedicated shelves next to similar items from manufacturers already sold in the store. The idea is to attract the attention of consumers who may be browsing larger, much more expensive products by highlighting the under-5,000-won price point.

In fact, one customer browsing the dairy section picked up a 150g Greek yogurt sold in a pack of two for 2,280 won and carefully checked the main ingredients. Greek yogurt of the same size typically sells for at least 5,000 won online, so this offers nearly an 80% discount per unit. Other items such as imitation crab, sausages, and processed ham were available in the 3,000 to 4,000 won range, while tofu and bean sprouts were being sold for under 1,000 won.

A customer is browsing the grocery-specialized ultra-low-price private label (PL) 5K PRICE products at an E-Mart store. Photo by Kim Heungsun

A sign for the grocery-specialized ultra-low-price private label (PL) 5K PRICE is displayed in an Emart store. Photo by Kim Heungsun

According to Emart, by integrating purchasing with Emart Everyday, they more than doubled the procurement volume compared to existing private label products and secured the industry's lowest cost competitiveness to lower prices. Twenty-five percent of the brand's products are global items sourced directly from overseas. In the first phase, 162 products were introduced, with plans to expand the lineup to 250 items in the second half of the year.

Recently, large discount stores have been strengthening ultra-low-priced products and groceries to counter sluggish domestic demand and the shift in consumption patterns toward online channels such as e-commerce. 5K PRICE is also a strategy to attract cost-conscious consumers back to offline stores. However, with Emart's existing value-focused private label "No Brand" still offering products in a corner of the store, there are questions about whether 5K PRICE will generate new demand and raise brand awareness.

In response, an Emart representative stated, "5K PRICE targets Emart Everyday customers in neighborhood shopping districts and single- or two-person households at large stores who want to buy products in smaller quantities, aiming for ultra-low prices in groceries. Since it is aimed at a new customer base, there is no concern about cannibalization with No Brand, which focuses on value for money."

According to Emart, the top-selling 5K PRICE product by sales revenue in the 19 days following its launch through September 1 was Spanish frozen pork neck (500g, 4,980 won), with about 89,000 packs sold. By sales volume, tofu (159,000 units) and bean sprouts (about 130,000 units) ranked highest. Emart explained that the response has exceeded expectations, leading partner companies to increase production and buyers to secure additional stock.