Quick commerce is spreading across the retail industry. The range of delivery items is expanding from fresh food and daily necessities to lifestyle products, fashion, beauty items, and even K-pop albums, marking the evolution of 'quick shopping' into lifestyle delivery.
According to industry sources on the 21st, Lotte Department Store has recently opened a dedicated section for Coupang Eats and is piloting quick commerce at its Cheongnyangni and Gwanak locations. Customers can order not only restaurant menu items and groceries but also lifestyle products. This marks the expansion of instant delivery services from convenience stores and supermarkets to department stores.
Companies that have adopted quick commerce are seeing a clear increase in repeat purchases. SSG.com’s 'BaroQuick,' which delivers items from E-Mart stores to nearby customers within about an hour, reported an average of seven times more daily orders last month compared to the average from September to November last year. The number of customers who ordered last month was about five times higher than in September of last year, with 51% of them being repeat customers who used BaroQuick again within six months of their previous purchase. The range of products offered has tripled from over 6,000 items in September last year to more than 18,000 now, and the number of delivery hubs will expand from 19 E-Mart locations to 90 by the end of this month.
Lotte Super, a corporate supermarket, has been delivering around 3,000 types of fresh and processed foods and household items within an hour from over 170 stores nationwide since the 7th. This model combines existing store networks close to residential areas with external delivery infrastructure. Deli items such as chicken, kimbap, and sandwiches are also included in the quick commerce offerings to target the demand for convenient meals.
The convenience store sector is also experiencing rapid growth in quick commerce-related sales. CU reported a 205.8% increase in quick commerce sales for July and August this year compared to the same period last year, while E-Mart 24 saw an increase of 182%, Seven Eleven 150%, and GS25 74.9%. The dense store network is seen as a significant advantage for near-distance deliveries.
The range of products available for instant delivery is also broadening. Baemin B Mart began pre-orders for the album of virtual idol PlayB on the 17th and plans to regularize the delivery of K-pop albums. This signifies the expansion of quick commerce from food and daily necessities to entertainment products.
The expansion of quick commerce by retail companies is driven by the changing role of offline stores. By integrating existing store inventory with external delivery networks, they can handle nearby orders without the need for large logistics centers.
An industry insider stated, "Offline stores are evolving from mere sales spaces into local logistics hubs for processing online orders. Retailers with dense store networks have greater potential to leverage this in quick commerce."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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