Hypermarkets fight back with in-store rewards as foot traffic dries up

E-mart is looking to its physical stores for a way out of the hypermarket slump. As consumer spending continues to shift online, the retailer is doubling down on in-store-only perks to draw customers back through the door.

E-mart launched a service called "Welcome Check-in" through its app last month, targeting customers who visit its brick-and-mortar locations, according to industry sources Monday. Shoppers scan a QR code inside the store to access a dedicated page and complete missions, earning "e-money" that can be spent like cash at the store.

The missions come in several forms. A "check-in lottery" awards e-money once a day at random; "Walk E-mart" rewards customers for logging a set number of steps inside the store; and a purchase mission gives e-money to shoppers who buy a recommended product. Rather than simple discounts, the program weaves together store visits, in-store activity and actual purchases into a single app-based rewards loop.

"We introduced it on Aug. 28 to drive visits to E-mart's physical stores and boost engagement with the E-mart app," a company official said. "It is still in the early stages, and we plan to keep refining it based on customer feedback."

E-mart is also expanding the physical footprint of its stores. The centerpiece of that effort is Starfield Market, a hybrid shopping format that combines an E-mart with a range of tenants. The concept launched at the Jukjeon location in 2024, followed by stores in Ilsan, Dongtan and Gyeongsan in 2025. The fifth location — and the first Starfield Market in Seoul — recently opened at Wolgye.

The results have been measurable. Sales at the four existing Starfield Market locations rose 28 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, far outpacing E-mart's overall sales growth of 2.7 percent over the same period. The company plans to convert two more stores to the Starfield Market format by year-end, with another two to three conversions planned for next year, focused on the Greater Seoul area.

The push comes against a backdrop of prolonged weakness across the hypermarket sector. Sales at 26 major domestic retailers rose 6.4 percent in July from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Offline retail grew 3.2 percent and online 8.5 percent, but hypermarkets fell 11.2 percent — their fifth consecutive month of negative growth.

The food category, long considered a core strength of hypermarkets, took a particularly hard hit. Online food sales climbed 10.4 percent year on year while hypermarket food sales dropped 12.8 percent. The blow is especially significant given that food accounts for roughly 70 percent of total hypermarket sales. The number of purchases fell 18.0 percent, though the average transaction value rose 8.4 percent — meaning shoppers are spending more per visit, but visiting far less often.

Hypermarkets are also losing ground within the broader retail market. Their sales fell 7.3 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, and their share of total sales among major retailers slipped from 10.3 percent in the first half of last year to 8.5 percent this year. Hypermarket sales have been in negative territory for nine consecutive quarters since the second quarter of 2024. Online retail, meanwhile, expanded its share from 59.0 percent in the first half of last year to 59.6 percent in the first half of this year, reaching a record 60.8 percent in July — while hypermarkets accounted for just 8.1 percent that month.

"Getting more customers to visit physical stores in the first place is the biggest challenge for hypermarkets," one industry official said. "Bringing in more tenants serves that same goal, but strengthening the hypermarket's own competitive edge — particularly in fresh food — will be an even more important part of the strategy for drawing customers in."