[비즈한국] As the hypermarket industry continues to experience a downturn, Homeplus is also facing growing concerns. While Homeplus expresses a commitment to securing growth engines by strengthening its online business, industry outlooks are not entirely optimistic. Critics suggest that because its major shareholder, MBK Partners, is focused solely on recovering its investment, the company’s market competitiveness is gradually weakening.
Focus on sales rather than investment sparks industry concern
Recently, Homeplus has been heavily promoting its online business performance as positive. The company emphasizes that its "immediate delivery" service based on Express stores is well-received by customers and that sales for its "Mart Direct Shipping" service, which delivers items from Homeplus stores to customers who order online, have also increased. A Homeplus representative explained, "With Homeplus's total sales last year recorded at approximately 7 trillion won, 1.3 trillion won came from online channels. This is an increase from the previous year (1 trillion won)."
Homeplus's online mall currently operates "Mart Direct Shipping," which delivers items from offline stores; "Immediate Delivery," based on Express stores; and "Parcel Delivery," which allows individual sellers to list products and ship them via courier. Unlike Mart Direct Shipping and Immediate Delivery, which are based on offline stores, Parcel Delivery is operated through the participation of general sellers.
Homeplus is also showing moves to expand its "Parcel Delivery" service where external sellers list and sell products. The company is actively recruiting sellers by offering exemptions on sales commissions for new vendors joining the platform. Homeplus explains that this expansion of the Parcel Delivery service is a form of investment for its online business. The aforementioned representative stated, "The advantage of the Parcel Delivery service is that it allows us to offer a wider variety of products to customers."
However, the industry views Homeplus's actions as difficult to interpret as investments aimed at full-scale online business growth. Lee Jong-woo, a professor of business administration at Ajou University, explained, "Lotte Mart previously expanded into courier-based deliveries but gave up because it didn't generate sufficient revenue. The Homeplus platform is too small to operate as an open market, making it unfeasible."
He added, "Currently, Homeplus is significantly reducing its offline stores and pushing for the sale of its Express division. To facilitate a sale, the company needs to demonstrate business stability, and these moves are an attempt to present a vision of strengthening its e-commerce business. It appears to be nothing more than 'window dressing' to flesh out their e-commerce portfolio rather than a genuine intention to grow the courier delivery business."
MBK, anxious to recover investment, faces questions about the 'sincerity of the business'
Homeplus has set a goal to achieve success through a two-track strategy involving both offline stores and online business. The strategy is to improve management efficiency by closing underperforming offline stores while simultaneously boosting profitability by strengthening its online operations.
The company's quick-commerce service, "Immediate Delivery," is showing positive results, with a steady increase in users. According to Mobile Index, a data platform by IGAWorks, monthly users rose from 1.63 million in January 2022 to over 2 million for the first time in March last year, and as of last month, the number reached 2.16 million.
However, long-term competitiveness remains a growing concern. Experts point out that unlike its competitors, Homeplus shows little will to invest as the survival battle in the hypermarket industry intensifies. The fact that the private equity firm (PEF) MBK Partners, the largest shareholder of Homeplus, is focused solely on recovering its investment is cited as the core problem.
Professor Lee Jong-woo noted, "The competitiveness of a hypermarket lies in its buying power (product planning ability). You have to invest to sell good products, but given the current lack of investment in the online business, it is hard to expect significant long-term growth."
Seo Yong-gu, a professor of economics at Sookmyung Women's University, advised, "If you visit a Homeplus store, you can feel from a consumer's perspective that they are not investing. If they don't invest with 'sincerity toward the business,' it may be difficult to survive."
As losses accumulate, MBK Partners is focusing on selling stores. In February and June of this year, the Seomyeon branch in Busan and the Mok-dong branch in Seoul were closed, and the Seo-Daejeon branch shut its doors on the 18th of this month. The Anyang branch is also scheduled to close by the end of the month. Next year, the Ansan Seonbu branch will close, and the Dong-Cheongju branch will follow in the first half of 2026. In addition, the closure of 11 more branches, including the Gwangju Gyerim, Naedang, and Dongdaemun branches, has been finalized.
An industry insider stated, "Most Homeplus offline stores are located in prime urban areas. MBK Partners likely believes that recovering their investment is possible just by selling these high-value properties," adding, "Unlike E-Mart or Lotte Mart, which focus on selling loss-making stores, Homeplus is prioritizing stores with high real estate value. While their stance is that they will invest the proceeds into the online business, the prevailing view is that the primary goal is simply to recover their investment."
Recently, Homeplus has also been attempting to sell its SSM division, Homeplus Express. MBK Partners selected Morgan Stanley as the lead manager for the sale in June. However, they have yet to find a buyer. An internal Homeplus source explained, "The company is currently focused on the Express sale. To make the numbers look positive for the sale, we are continuing large-scale promotions like 'Homeplus Run'." The source added, "We had significantly cut advertising costs, but recently the spending on ads has increased. It's likely because they need to manufacture sales figures for the sale."
Professor Seo Yong-gu said, "The current consumer market atmosphere is not good, yet there is a push to aggressively inflate sales for the sake of a sale. I doubt it will be easy to sell under the current method," adding, "As offline retail is a declining industry, it's hard to get a fair price. It would be better to grow the business through store investments and aim for a different timing."
On the other hand, Homeplus stated, "We are still in the early stages of the sale, and nothing has been finalized. Currently, companies interested (in the acquisition) are in the review phase," and added, "We expect a general outline to emerge in about a month. There are no issues with the sale process."