Thestateofgroceryretail2023 SouthKorea March2023 Copyright©2023McKinsey&Company.Allrightsreserved. Thispublicationisnotintendedtobeusedasthebasisfortrading inthesharesofanycompanyorforundertakinganyothercomplex orsignificantfinancialtransactionwithoutconsultingappropriateprofessionaladvisers. NopartofthispublicationmaybecopiedorredistributedinanyformwithoutthepriorwrittenconsentofMcKinsey&Company. Coverimage: ©RUNSTUDIO/GettyImages Contents 6 FivetrendsthatwilldefineSouthKoreangroceryin2023 17 SouthKorea’snextsalesfrontier:Retailmedianetworks 29 UsingsustainabilitytotransformfoodsystemsinSouthKorea 13 Eat,play,love:HowGenZisshapingKorea’sgroceryretailers 23 HowtechnologycanelevategrocerystoresinSouthKorea StateofGrocerySouthKorea1 Foreword Overthepastfiveyears,themodernSouthKoreangrocerymarkethasbeenstagnant,withannualgrowthlimitedtoapproximately1percent.Whiletheoverallsizeofthemarkethasheldsteady,itsdynamicshavecompletelyshifted.Thehypermarketandsupermarketcategory,whichaccountedforabout20percentoftotalretailsalesinSouthKoreain2017,hadtraditionallybeenthedominantformat,butnowitissmallerthanboththeonlineandconveniencestorecategories.Thisshiftwascausedbyacombinationoffourmajorforces. Demographicchange.SouthKorea’spopulationdemographicshavechangeddramaticallyatanacceleratedpace.In2020,thecountryhitthe“populationdeathcross”—whenthenumberofnewbornsislessthanthenumberofthedeceased.1Inaddition,singlehouseholdsaccounted forapproximately35percentoftotalhouseholdsin2021,uptenpercentagepointsoverthepastdecade.Theincreaseinsinglehouseholdsacceleratesthechannelshiftfromhypermarketandsupermarkettoonlineandconveniencestores. IsolationduetoCOVID-19.DuringtheearlystagesoftheCOVID-19pandemic,theSouthKoreangovernmentenforceda“vaccinationpass”forpublicspaces,includinghypermarketsandsupermarkets.PeoplehadtoshowtheirvaccinepassoranegativePCRresulttoaccessstores.Ontopofthisrule,peoplewereafraidofgoingtopublicspacesbecauseoftheriskofinfection.Asaresult,peoplepreferredtogotoconveniencestoreswithinashortdistanceoftheirhomesortobuythingsonline,andthiscombinationacceleratedthemovementamongchannels. 1“Totalpopulationandpopulationgrowthrate,”KoreanStatisticalInformationService(KOSIS),accessedJanuary19,2023. Fiercecompetitionfrome-commerceplayers.Majoronlineplayerscontinuedtomakeheavyinvestmentsinlogisticstobuildupinfrastructureforfasterdelivery.Forexample,Coupangcommittedmorethan1.5trillionwon($1.25billion)toestablishnewlogisticscenters.2 Elderlyshoppersgomobile.OldergenerationsofSouthKoreansarebecomingmoredigitallysavvy.3ConsiderthatthelargestviewersegmentonYouTubeisnowpeopleovertheageof50,accountingforone-quarteroftotalhoursviewed.Thisfamiliaritywithonlinecontentisleadingoldershopperstoshifttheirspendingtomobilechannels.Inresponse,brandsareadaptingtheirproductsfortheelderly:forexample,healthyfoodsforconsumerswithdiabetesandfoodsthatareeasy toswallow. Groceryhasalsobecomeahotbedofactivityforcapitalmarkets.AfterCoupang’ssuccessfulIPOresultedinamarketcapofmorethan$100billion,4multiplemajorplayers—suchasMarketKurly,Oasis,andSSG.com—areeyeingasimilarpath. Thisreport,Unlockinggrowthopportunities:Thestateofgroceryretail2023SouthKorea,exploresingreaterdepththesetrendsandtheirpotentialimpactonthecountry’sgroceryretailers.In thenextfewchapters,wewillexploretherecentchangestoconsumerbehavior,newrevenueexpansionopportunitiesforretailers,andhowgroceryretailersandbrandscantargetspecificdemographicgroups,suchasGenZconsumers. OurgoalistohelpCEOsstayaheadofmarketshiftsandpursuegrowth.Wehopethisreportoffersvaluableinsightstosupportthatgoal. 2Eun-youngKim,“Coupangattracted1.4trillionwonininvestmentlastyear…halfofUSinvestmentinKorea,”ChosunBiz,January25,2022. 3EunbiLee,“TheYouTubeapp,themostusedgenerationis‘over50,’”YTN,February23,2021. 4JoshuaFranklin,JoyceLee,andChibuikeOguh,“Coupangsurgestoover$100billionvaluationafter$4.6billionIPO,”EconomicTimes,updatedMarch12,2021. YounghoonKang PartnerSeoul JeongkeunKimAssociatePartnerSeoul StateofGrocerySouthKorea3 Editors YounghoonKang YounghoonKangisapartnerinMcKinsey’sSeoulofficeandaleaderoftheAsiaConsumerandRetailPractice.Hehasservedaglobalprivateequityfirmseekinginvestmentopportunities,includingintheconsumerhealthindustry;aglobalconglomerateacquiringabeveragecompanyinAsia;andmultipleglobalprivateequityfirms,performingduediligenceinvarioussectors,includinge-commerce,fashion,andtravel.HehasalsoservedaleadinghypermartinKoreaonanend-to-endtransformationoftheirvalueproposition,assortment,andsupplychain,andhehasadvisedaleadingconsumerbeautycompanyonmultipletopicssuchasglobalexpansion,zero-basedbudgeting,anddigitalstrategy. JeongkeunKim JeongkeunKimisanassociatepartnerinMcKinsey’sSeoulofficeandaleaderoftheKoreaConsumerRetailandTransformationPractice.HehasledmultipleperformancetransformationprogramsforvariousB2Cplayersacrossindustries,includingbeverage,consumerappliances,consumerfinance,dairy,hypermartsandsupermarkets,andpharmaceuticals.HehasalsoledanorganizationtransformationforaleadingmediaandtelecomcompanyinK