South Korea’s retail chain E-Mart joined forces with Hyundai Card to apply credit-card transaction records in a project that lifts obscure neighborhood eateries into nationwide ready-meal brands. The collaboration debuted five dishes under E-Mart’s PEACOCK label in September 2023, and by the following August those items had moved more than 140,000 units off shelves, prompting the companies to schedule additional launches for the fourth quarter of the year.
Rather than relying on typical cues such as online reviews, influencer posts, or social-media buzz, the two firms examined Hyundai Card’s payment logs spanning 2023 through 2024. By mining this information they identified establishments where diners returned repeatedly, signalling genuine loyalty even when the venues lacked a strong digital footprint. This analytical route let them single out restaurants that already enjoyed proven patronage, reducing the guesswork that usually accompanies new product rolls.
The first venue selected was Hongbok, a Chinese kitchen tucked inside Seoul’s busy Namdaemun Market. Its signature uni-jjajang noodles and yurin-gi chicken were reformulated into shelf-stable PEACOCK items. In addition, black ramen from Ramura, a shop in the hip Seongsu-dong district, and chicken-skin gyoza offered by Yakitori Pano in upscale Cheongdam-dong were also transformed into ready-to-heat meals. Each of these dishes carried a distinct local reputation that the data-driven scan brought to a wider audience.
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This method represents a departure from conventional product development, where manufacturers often predict demand based on limited market research or trend speculation. By anchoring decisions in concrete spending patterns, E-Mart and Hyundai Card can confirm that a flavor already resonates with consumers before committing resources to mass production and distribution.
The early success convinced both partners to cement the arrangement as an ongoing alliance. Hyundai Card will keep feeding its Domain Cosmos platform with fresh transaction signals, while the retailer will continue translating those insights into new items for its grocery aisles. The cooperation between data science and food merchandising is expected to generate further entries in the PEACOCK series throughout the coming year.
“This achievement is the result of cooperation between Hyundai Card’s data science and E-Mart’s product development capabilities,” a Hyundai Card official said. “Going forward, Hyundai Card will continue to carry on with a collaboration model that goes beyond simple analysis and leads directly to actual product development and sales results through Domain Cosmos-based data science.”
