Convenience Store CU Holds Industry's First Online Franchise Briefing Session

Temporary Suspension of In-Person Briefings Since COVID-19
Q2 Startup Inquiries Increase 40% Year-on-Year
Three-Stage Emergency Response Manual Established Early This Year
Systematic Preparation for Untact Startup Briefings

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Convenience store CU announced on the 8th that it will start the industry's first online franchise briefing session to provide smooth startup information and consulting to prospective franchisees despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

Until now, CU's franchise briefing sessions were conducted face-to-face in a one-to-many format at the headquarters, but they were temporarily suspended following social distancing guidelines after the spread of COVID-19. Although replaced by phone consultations, continuous franchise inquiries led to the decision to hold online briefing sessions starting this month.

In fact, franchise inquiries received by CU in March, when the spread of COVID-19 was intensifying, dropped to one-third compared to previous years. However, in the second quarter, as anxiety subsided, the number of people seeking stable franchise items increased significantly, rising by about 40% compared to the previous year.

CU's online franchise briefing sessions will be held every Wednesday at 2 p.m. for about 70 minutes starting this month. Those wishing to participate can submit a consultation consent form through the franchise information page on the CU website at least one day before the session to receive access ID and password along with participation instructions. Up to 100 people can connect simultaneously.

The CU online franchise briefing session covers ▲ company and brand introduction, ▲ understanding convenience store franchises, ▲ understanding store types, ▲ CU franchise conditions, and ▲ guidance on subsequent procedures. One-on-one consultation services are also provided to participants through real-time chat.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year, CU has systematically prepared a three-stage untact franchise briefing session by establishing an emergency response manual.

In February, immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak, offline franchise briefing sessions were suspended, and the following stages were implemented sequentially: Stage 1 (March) distribution of E-book franchise materials, Stage 2 (April-May) launch and operation of a YouTube franchise channel, and Stage 3 (July) real-time online franchise briefing sessions.

CU expects that the online franchise briefing sessions will increase accessibility to startup information for more prospective franchisees than the existing offline method. Previously, sessions were held in major regional hubs such as Seoul, Busan, and Gwangju, but online sessions have no spatial or temporal limitations.

BGF Retail's Kim Ki-seop, head of the franchise support team, said, "Due to employment instability and consumption recession caused by the COVID-19 crisis this year, there is high interest among prospective franchisees in the convenience store business, which shows stable operational capability and profitability in the startup market." He added, "We will monitor participants' responses and plan to operate both online and offline briefing sessions to meet the increasing demand for convenience store franchises."

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