E-Mart announced on the 21st that it will expand its ultra-low-price lifestyle goods store ‘Wow Shop’ and fully launch operations, aiming to enhance the differentiation of its offline stores.
E-Mart will open a 100-pyeong-scale Wow Shop at Starfield Market Wolgye Branch and E-Mart Eunpyeong Branch on the 22nd. On the 30th, it will also open a Wow Shop specialty store at Starfield Market Gunsan Branch. Including these, the company plans to open a total of five medium-to-large-scale Wow Shop stores by the end of the year.
Since December last year, E-Mart has been operating pilot Wow Shops of around 20 pyeong, focusing on approximately 1,300 imported lifestyle goods. With the full-scale launch, it will introduce 12,000 newly developed products to Wow Shops. Due to seasonal and store-specific variations, customers can actually find around 8,000 types of lifestyle goods. The product categories will expand beyond kitchenware to include beauty, health functional foods, stationery/toys, and electronics—items closely tied to daily life.
A key differentiator is that Wow Shop will sell digital appliances, small appliances, and other relatively high-priced home electronics for up to 10,000 Korean won. To mark this launch, it will also offer limited-edition 10,000 Korean won products specially designed for Wow Shop, including 100 items such as air fryers, coffee makers, single-person electric mattress pads, and double-door sensor trash cans.
Wow Shop products are uniformly priced from 1,000 Korean won to a maximum of 10,000 Korean won. Approximately 60% of all developed products are priced at 2,000 Korean won or less. An E-Mart official stated, “We have focused on developing high-quality ultra-low-price products through domestic and international brand collaborations and overseas product sourcing, rather than simply creating cheap goods.”
In the past, large supermarkets typically leased space to Daiso and similar stores rather than directly handling ultra-low-price lifestyle goods. However, as e-commerce and convenience stores expand into fresh food sectors—traditionally a strength of large supermarkets—the differentiation of offline stores has come under threat. Amid these changes, large supermarkets are now entering the ultra-low-price lifestyle goods market, where Daiso has been prominent.
Hwang Woon-ki, head of E-Mart’s product division, said, “By leveraging E-Mart’s product planning capabilities and global sourcing expertise, we will continue to strengthen our ultra-low-price lifestyle goods lineup to satisfy customers in both price and quality.”
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