Delivery joins pickup for phones and other gadgets on E-mart app

[E-mart app screenshot]
[E-mart app screenshot]

E-mart has added a delivery option to Digital Grab, its in-app smart-order service for electronics, as the retailer moves to deepen its online-to-offline, or O4O, strategy. According to industry sources, E-mart launched the delivery service through Digital Grab on May 28. Digital Grab lets customers purchase smartphones, gaming consoles and other small electronics through the E-mart app and pick up their orders on a chosen date at an E-mart or Traders store. The service debuted on the E-mart app in August last year.

"Digital Grab started with a digital electronics pickup service and has since expanded its categories to include small appliances and lifestyle products," an E-mart official said. "We added delivery to broaden customer touchpoints and enhance benefits." Digital Grab is part of E-mart's broader O4O strategy, which uses its app to drive foot traffic to physical stores by improving convenience. The service markets itself as a way to purchase high-demand products — such as PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch units that typically draw long lines — without waiting. By the same token, E-mart launched Wine Grab in November last year, a similar service for ordering and picking up wine in store.

The addition of delivery is intended to strengthen the service experience for customers who come through online channels, separate from the existing pickup offering. Expanding options is expected to attract new online shoppers and eventually draw them toward pickup services and in-store visits. Beyond the Grab lineup, E-mart also runs Order to Home, a farm-direct fresh food delivery service introduced in the first half of last year, and Order Pick, a group-buying service. The company is also expanding its quick-commerce operation — E-mart runs a rapid delivery service called Baro Quick across more than 80 stores in partnership with SSG.com, and plans to grow that to 90 stores by the end of the first half of this year.

Competition in online retail services has been intensifying across the industry. Daiso's online shopping mall, Daiso Mall, expanded its quick-commerce service "Today Delivery" last month to cover all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul. The service has Daiso stores ship products directly, with third-party couriers handling last-mile delivery. Daiso is also broadening its O4O strategy through its app, offering features such as store inventory checks, in-store pickup and an "open run" alert system that notifies customers of new arrivals in advance.


korean@heraldcorp.com