E-mart accelerates quick-commerce push to capture online grocery shoppers

E-mart, the dominant force in offline retail, is moving quickly to expand its quick-commerce — or instant-delivery — operations, deepening partnerships with external delivery platforms such as Baemin and Coupang Eats across its hypermarkets, No Brand stores and corporate supermarkets.

According to industry sources, E-mart launched quick-commerce on Coupang Eats in July, following an earlier rollout on Baemin, and has since grown its participating store count from six to 123. It currently runs quick-commerce through 117 Baemin locations and 90 stores under SSG.com's "Baroquick" same-hour delivery service.

E-mart's quick-commerce sales for the January-to-September period this year rose more than 40 percent from the same period a year earlier. The service works by having store staff pick and pack ordered items, which are then dispatched to customers through the delivery platforms' logistics networks.

No Brand, E-mart's private-label specialty chain, is also investing heavily in quick-commerce. About 190 of its roughly 250 stores nationwide now offer quick-commerce through Baemin. The rollout began with a pilot at four company-operated stores in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in April and has continued to expand since.

E-mart Everyday operates quick-commerce at about 230 of its roughly 240 stores nationwide — about 96 percent of its total — through Baemin, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo. The chain has been expanding the service since 2022, and its related sales in the first half of this year climbed 52.2 percent year on year as a result.

SSG.com is following the same path. It runs "Baroquick," a roughly one-hour delivery service, out of 90 E-mart stores across the country. Since July, it has also been broadening a two-hour delivery option for E-mart products.

Shinsegae Group on Friday named Kim Hong-geuk, chief executive of Shinsegae Casa, as co-CEO of E-mart and CEO of SSG.com. SSG.com plans to spin off its fashion, beauty and other lifestyle businesses into a separate entity tentatively called Shinsegae Mall starting in December, with the remaining entity focusing on online grocery. As E-mart and SSG.com become more closely aligned operationally, cooperation on product procurement, logistics and delivery is expected to deepen.

Online food purchases are on the rise. According to the Ministry of Statistics' "August 2026 Online Shopping Trends" report, online food transactions — combining processed food and beverages with fresh agricultural, livestock and fishery products — reached 4.89 trillion won ($3.69 billion) in August, up 11.3 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the 7.3 percent growth rate for overall online shopping. Fresh produce rose 15.4 percent, while processed food and beverages grew 9.8 percent.

Whether the quick-commerce push will translate into sustained sales growth and improved profitability remains to be seen, as competition among major delivery platforms and retailers is already fierce. Baemin has operated its own logistics-hub-based "B-mart" service since 2019. Coupang Eats is expanding the merchant roster on its grocery and shopping service while also piloting its own quick-commerce offering, "Rocket Now."

"Quick-commerce is the next major battleground in retail, following dawn delivery and same-day delivery," a retail industry official said. "With no clear winner yet, strengthening product competitiveness to stand out from rivals will be key."