CU, Awarded 'Consumer-Centered Management' Certification for 5 Consecutive Times

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CU announced on the 18th that it has become the first convenience store chain in the industry to receive the Consumer-Centered Management (CCM) certification for five consecutive times.

CCM is a system where the Korea Consumer Agency evaluates every two years whether a company organizes all its activities around consumers and continuously improves related management activities, and the Fair Trade Commission certifies it.

Since CU first obtained the CCM certification in 2012, the first in the convenience store industry, it has strived to enable all employees to practice consumer-centered management by appointing a Chief Customer Officer (CCO) and establishing a CCM operation office. As a result, CU is currently the only company in the convenience store industry to maintain CCM certification.

In this evaluation, CU was re-certified in recognition of its contributions to improving consumer satisfaction through ▲strengthened VOC monitoring and response ▲operation of a system to enhance customer center expertise ▲eco-friendly management activities ▲provision of consumer information and introduction of convenience services.

To improve customer service, CU built an integrated VOC system in 2018 and systematically organized resources related to consumer-centered management by newly establishing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team to utilize VOC analysis results for business improvement, thereby further enhancing service satisfaction.

In fact, based on these VOC analysis results, CU identified consumer needs and launched the ‘Keeping Coupon’ service, which allows stores to keep +1 promotional products, and established related systems to enable various payment methods, including Zero Pay, to be used at stores.

Additionally, to facilitate smooth communication with customers, CU has activated the operation of a CS specialist team within the customer center. Recently, it has increased specialized personnel and expanded their authority to provide prompt feedback to customers, while also establishing regular mystery calls and consultation quality meeting systems to strengthen response capabilities.

As a result, the quality of consultation services has further improved, with customer complaints decreasing by 11% compared to the previous year and customer consultation satisfaction increasing by 103% year-on-year.

CU’s achievements in environmental management were also recognized. CU has implemented proactive eco-friendly policies such as obtaining the Green Store certification from the Ministry of Environment for eco-friendly convenience stores, introducing eco-friendly bags (PLA) in nationwide directly operated stores, and adopting paper straws, becoming the first in the industry to acquire the international standard environmental management system ISO14001 certification.

Moreover, CU has significantly enhanced customer convenience by providing useful information through collaborations such as KBS’s Penstorang and SBS’s Delicious Plaza, introducing self-checkout counters in line with recent non-face-to-face social trends, and commercializing hybrid convenience stores and facial recognition payment convenience stores.

Seogimun, Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of BGF Retail, said, “It is very meaningful that a series of activities practiced by all employees united with the management philosophy centered on customers have led to five consecutive certifications,” adding, “CU will continue to strive to deliver differentiated customer-oriented value as a leading company in consumer-centered management in the industry.”

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