Kurly is preparing to open its first permanent offline store in Seoul's Gangnam district, translating the product strength it built online into physical space — a new stage in its online-to-offline strategy.
The store will operate as a curated space where customers can experience proven online bestsellers, premium ingredients, private-label products and beauty items directly. The design intent is that people experience products in store and repurchase through the app, and Kurly is building a dedicated offline organization to run it.
Offline expansion does not guarantee immediate profitability improvement, given rent, labor and inventory costs. But Kurly reports revenue of ₩745.7 billion, operating profit of ₩24.2 billion and GMV of ₩1.089 trillion, and the expansion carries the possible upside of stronger brand loyalty and enhanced IPO valuation.
The metric that decides this store is probably not in-store revenue but app repurchase rates after a visit. If the space is genuinely curatorial, it functions as both sales channel and medium — and the outcome shows up in how often a sampled product ends up in an online cart.
Which means measurement design matters: without store-specific codes, app check-ins or QR links on sampled products, connecting offline investment to online performance is guesswork.
For Kurly extending curation into non-food categories, see K-Beauty 3.0 Goes Vertical; for treating physical space as brand media, see What Sulbing and Terarosa Actually Sell Is Time.
A curated experience space in Gangnam featuring proven online bestsellers, premium ingredients, private-label products and beauty items.
To link in-store experience to app repurchase and strengthen brand loyalty, with potential IPO valuation benefits as additional motivation.
Rent, labor and inventory costs mean no immediate profitability gain, and the company needs measurement linking store visits to app purchases.
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