GS25 Holds 2020 AR Product Exhibition... Changed to Non-Face-to-Face Online Format

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] GS Retail's convenience store GS25 announced that it will hold the ‘2020 AR (Augmented Reality) Product Exhibition’ starting from the 8th of this month.

The product exhibition is the largest event in the convenience store industry, conducted for over 14,000 GS25 franchise owners nationwide. It presents the core convenience store trends of the year to franchise owners and serves as a platform to explore the direction GS25 should take amid the rapidly changing distribution environment.

This year, GS25 changed the operation method of the product exhibition, now in its 21st year, to a digital content-centered online format. Moving away from the offline-focused approach of inviting franchise owners nationwide to large exhibition halls for direct experience, GS25 applied accelerated digital transformation (DT). This allows the headquarters and franchise owners to share the key consumer trends of 2020 and repeatedly learn product strategies.

GS25 believes that changing this year’s product exhibition from the traditional offline face-to-face method to an online non-face-to-face method is suitable for the social movement to avoid mass gatherings due to the impact of COVID-19.

For this product exhibition, GS25 applied AR technology to digital content for the first time in the industry. The digital educational content with AR technology models the store’s product shelves and this year’s new and strategic products in 3D. Through 360-degree rotation and image zoom, franchise owners can check the changes in product displays from last year to this year from various angles, and also view the three-dimensional product shapes and detailed product information.

With the AR educational content, franchise owners can also learn about the core consumer trends of 2020 and MD (Merchandiser) strategies. Videos where MDs directly explain key points and various 3D images are provided simultaneously, enabling franchise owners to understand the core content easily and quickly.

Besides AR educational content, GS25 produced various video training materials and established a system that allows franchise owners to learn through store ordering devices, PCs, and mobile devices that are easy to access. This enables repeated information review and active utilization in store operations without restrictions of time and place.

GS25 expects the consumer trend focusing on ‘value consumption’ to strengthen and spread further this year. With the increase of single-person households and the social atmosphere valuing ‘present’ satisfaction and ‘self’ worth, the number of ‘For Me’ consumers who boldly invest in products that hold personal value is increasing.

Accordingly, GS25 plans to introduce products that satisfy customers based on four core values: △value focused on convenience △value focused on a satisfying meal △value focused on fun and emotion △value focused on health and environment.

A GS25 official said, “The innovation in the operation method of the product exhibition applying digital transformation has enabled more efficient and accurate information sharing and communication between headquarters and franchise owners,” adding, “We expect franchise owners nationwide to preview this year’s trends through digital content, learn proactively, enhance store operation capabilities, and secure differentiated competitiveness.”

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