From 7,000 Won Seeds to 73 Million Won Camping Cars... Convenience Store Industry Begins Selling Chuseok Gift Sets

Models are holding Chuseok gift sets and catalogs at a GS25 store. (Photo by GS Retail)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Convenience store industry is set to officially start selling Chuseok gift sets from the 27th in preparation for the upcoming Chuseok holiday. This year, the variety of gift sets has notably diversified due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

GS25 Chuseok Gift Keywords: Health, Contactless, Delivery

GS25 is launching Chuseok gift set sales with the keywords health, contactless, and delivery. First, reflecting the spread of COVID-19 this year, they introduced products tailored to customers' changed lifestyle trends. To meet the growing interest in health, the number of health functional foods was expanded by more than 40% compared to last year, increasing to about 100 varieties.

For customers enjoying camping as a contactless travel option, a ‘Sensory Camping Package’ (233,000 KRW) was planned as a limited edition of 200 sets. The Sensory Camping Package includes Kovea’s best model Alpine Master (KoAlma) 2.0, premium titanium, a 16-piece camping tableware set, and a 230g camping isobutane gas canister. Additionally, eight camping items such as multi-burners, windshields, and lights?essential for outdoor cooking?are also sold.

GS25 has newly established a Chuseok holiday category for customers using delivery services during the holiday. Products that are cumbersome to purchase in person, such as traditional game sets (Yut, Jegi, Crocodile Roulette), money envelopes, and health drink sets, are offered through delivery services. Simple cooking kits like Simply Cook and home-stay snack sets are prepared to welcome holiday guests easily, with various giveaways and discount events.

Due to the surge in parcel volumes during the Chuseok holiday, GS25 is running a uniform delivery fee event of 3,000 KRW for GS Postbox parcel service from September 11 to 23 for customers purchasing gift sets. This service is available by touching the ‘Convenience Store Event Products’ button on the Postbox parcel machine inside GS25 stores and is expected to help customers with economical and safe delivery.

CU: From 1,000 KRW Gifts to 70 Million KRW Camping Cars

CU is conducting pre-order discount sales for Chuseok gift sets until the 18th of next month and is the first in the industry to sell auto camping cars. Interest in camping has grown as more consumers want to enjoy rest in personal spaces due to COVID-19.

CU’s camping cars include four main products from caravan specialist Auto Homes: luxury camping car HV640, Cube VAN Carnival, Trans VAN Starex, and Caravan C, with prices ranging from 73.7 million KRW (HV640) to 32.7 million KRW (Caravan C). These products are custom-made after order placement and are delivered free of charge to the customer’s requested address approximately two months after the order date.

Also, CU increased home economy keyword products by 39.2% compared to last Chuseok, targeting ‘home-stayers’ spending the short five-day holiday at home due to social distancing becoming routine. Products include tea kits from Seongsu-dong’s famous matcha shop Super Matcha for home caf? lovers, over 50 types of liquor gift sets for home drinking enthusiasts, and various exercise equipment and gaming devices for home training fans.

CU expects a significant increase in consumers substituting direct visits to relatives with gifts this Chuseok and offers free delivery service (until September 25) for about 330 products, which is over 30% more than last Lunar New Year. Additionally, starting September 7, CU will conduct contactless sales on Pocket CU, allowing customers to select and pay for about 80 representative gifts immediately.

CU announced that it will conduct a pre-order discount sale of Chuseok gift sets until the 18th of next month and will be the first in the industry to start selling auto camping cars. The photo shows a customer examining a camping car released as a Chuseok gift set. (Photo by CU)

Seven Eleven: Over 540 Types of Holiday Gift Sets... Greatly Enhanced Variety

Seven Eleven is launching sales with over 540 types of holiday gift sets. This year, the variety of gift sets has notably changed due to the impact of COVID-19.

First, reflecting the spread of COVID-19, Seven Eleven introduced new gift sets related to personal hygiene, quarantine, and health. Along with contactless thermometers and various quarantine supplies, they strengthened the lineup with about 40 types of health food gift sets including red ginseng, vitamins, and Lactofit, reflecting the heightened interest in health.

Products reflecting various trends expanded by COVID-19 such as home-cooked meals, home cafes, and home training were also prepared. Differentiated HMR (Home Meal Replacement) products include the ‘Kim Soo-mi Handmade Kimchi Set’ containing six types of small-portion kimchi like young radish kimchi and mustard leaf kimchi, and the ‘Kim Soo-mi Special Seasoned Jeotgal Set’ with pollack roe and squid jeotgal.

As camping and golf rapidly rise as popular leisure cultures, related items were also prepared. With ‘car camping’ gaining popularity, products such as the ‘Withmong Car Camping Tent’ that connects to the rear of a car and the ultra-lightweight rotating camping chair ‘Talon Pivot Chair Mini’ are available. Additionally, various foods favored by campers, including ‘John Cook Deli Meat Set’ with kielbasa sausage and barbecue back ribs, are offered.

On the Seven Eleven mobile app ‘Seven App,’ from September 1 to 10, seven best holiday gift sets will be sold at uniform prices (10,000 KRW to 20,000 KRW). Using this event, customers can receive discounts up to 69% and pick up products at nearby Seven Eleven stores close to their hometowns.

Contactless is the Trend... Emart24 Offers 70% of Gift Sets with Free Delivery

Emart24 prepared 223 types of various Chuseok gift sets, more than 50% increase compared to last year. Notably, 162 types, accounting for over 70% of the gift sets, are available with free delivery. The 162 free delivery items are 2.3 times more than last Chuseok.

With growing interest in health, Emart24 prepared a variety of health functional foods and home training products. They offer five types of health functional foods including vitamins, probiotics, and collagen sets, as well as 21 types of wellness products including red ginseng, wild ginseng cultured roots, blueberry, and aronia health drinks.

Five types of home training products, including yoga mats, exercise bands, and gloves, are available in sets ranging from 100,000 KRW to 400,000 KRW. Emart24 also prepared filial piety products such as massage chairs (Cozima Classe Signature, 1.89 million KRW) for parents, encouraging gifts for parents who cannot be visited often due to COVID-19.

They also prepared COVID-19 prevention sets not typically found in holiday gift sets. From the 1st to the 30th of next month, six types of beverage gift sets available at Emart24 stores will be sold at a uniform price of 10,000 KRW for customers who need to quickly prepare gift sets at nearby convenience stores.

Ministop Introduces Unique Meat Gift Sets Allowing Custom Selection of Desired Cuts

Ministop will sell a total of 496 items including meat, seafood, health foods, and home appliances from the 2nd to the 21st in preparation for the upcoming Chuseok. Notably, cost-effective fruits, meat products, and well-composed seafood products stand out among the food items.

Ministop sells various health functional foods that help boost immunity and relieve fatigue in line with health management trends. They prepared a total of 88 types of health functional foods including red ginseng products, multivitamins, omega-3, and probiotics that the whole family can enjoy.

For meat products, Ministop offers Banhanwoo meat gift sets that allow customers to select and combine various cuts themselves. Moving away from the conventional gift set style consisting of one or two cuts, customers can now compose a single set with up to five different cuts. Customers can choose desired beef cuts from four price ranges between 70,000 KRW and 190,000 KRW.

Ministop’s Chuseok gift sets can be pre-ordered at nearby Ministop stores until September 21 and will be delivered sequentially so that customers can receive them by September 28, before the Chuseok holiday.

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