A Case Study of Shinsegae E-mart: How E-mart Became the Number One Distribution Company even against Economic Crisis and the Entry of Walmart?

Abstract

The success story of E-mart fascinated many academics and practitioners alike. Though E-mart began as a nameless discount store in Chang-dong, Seoul in 1993, it has transformed itself into a leading distribution company and one of the most powerful brands in Korea. Surprisingly, it achieved the great success against the two crises it met: the national economic crisis and the invasion of the global giant Walmart. The main objective of this case study is to formally examine how E-mart overcame the two crises. More specifically, this case study highlights the ways with which E-mart turned those difficulties into opportunities for growth. In our examination of the E-mart case, we could clearly see E-mart's competence and spirit that allowed it to turn crises into advantageous opportunities. E-mart attracted the customers who wanted value-oriented consumption by its positioning as the “Lowest price discount store", when consumer sentiment was frozen under the economic crisis. Furthermore, when a large-scale foreign discount store like Walmart entered the Korea market, E-mart built its core competencies as the ‘Korean style discount store’. These ingenious positioning and efforts resulted in E-mart taking over their archrival, Walmart, and forced the global Goliath to exit the Korean market. The case of E-mart's ef