CU Surpasses 3,000 Stores Offering Delivery Service... Expanding to 5,000 Stores by Mid-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CU's convenience store delivery service locations have surpassed 3,000 stores.

CU announced on the 2nd that the number of convenience store delivery service locations, which was the first in the industry, increased from 2,000 stores in July last year to 3,000 stores in January this year, just five months later.

CU expects the number to expand to 5,000 stores within the first quarter of this year, as the number of registered stores waiting to operate delivery services is about 2,000, showing high interest from franchisees. Some stores, mainly in the Gangnam area of Seoul, are preparing for 24-hour operations.

CU is the only company in the industry operating a nationwide delivery service in partnership with delivery apps Yogiyo and Mesh Korea's Broom, equipped with a location-based and real-time inventory linkage system.

The delivery service currently operated by CU has undergone continuous evolution and has reached its third generation. CU was the first in the industry to start delivery services in 2010. At that time, there were no smartphones, so orders were placed by phone, and the store directly delivered the items. Since delivery personnel were required separately, it was operated at a test level in about 10 directly managed stores with many employees.

Later, in 2015, CU developed the industry's first location-based and real-time inventory-linked O2O system, establishing a convenience store delivery system optimized for a single-person work system. Based on this, last year, CU formed a strategic business partnership with Yogiyo, a specialized delivery platform, and is currently expanding its reach nationwide.

CU's delivery service has shown visible results, improving customer convenience and increasing additional sales for stores since its introduction.

On rainy or cloudy days, usage rates increased by up to 40% compared to usual. Expanding the product range to about 200 food items including lunch boxes and about 60 daily necessities raised the average purchase price from 16,500 KRW to 18,200 KRW, resulting in an approximately 20% increase in total delivery service sales.

Major locations with high delivery demand include university areas, one-room apartments, and office districts. Some stores recorded daily sales of up to 2 million KRW from delivery services alone.

As the popularity of delivery services continues to rise, CU has prepared a dedicated promotion for delivery services for the first time this month. Throughout January, CU is conducting an additional Yogiyo-exclusive 1+1 event on delivery service purchases, in addition to offline giveaway products. The promotional items include a total of 22 products such as beverages, snacks, refrigerated side dishes, feminine products, wax, shampoo, detergent, and shaving products.

Jung Sung-hae, head of BGF Retail’s Service Platform Team, said, “As delivery and shipping competition has become a hot topic in the distribution industry recently, convenience stores, a representative offline channel, are also fostering delivery services as a new competitive edge. We will further enhance customer shopping satisfaction and contribute to improving franchisees’ profitability through diverse products and differentiated systems.”

Meanwhile, CU’s delivery service allows customers to access the delivery app Yogiyo and check real-time product inventory of CU stores located within a 1.5 km radius of their address to make purchases. The minimum purchase amount is 10,000 KRW, delivery hours are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the delivery fee is 3,000 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.