Convenience Stores, National Support Fund 'Special Demand'... "Here to Shop"

Food & Beverage and Daily Necessities Discount Event
Increased Sales in Fruits, Detergents, and Meat
Expanded Catalog Orders for Home Appliances

On the 14th, a customer is purchasing vegetables at the convenience store 7-Eleven.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Convenience stores are fully enjoying the special demand from the ‘COVID-19 Coexistence National Support Fund.’ While department stores, large supermarkets, and online malls are excluded from the list of places where the National Support Fund can be used, convenience stores allow its use. The convenience store industry’s efforts to strengthen product assortments and actively conduct marketing such as discount events have also contributed to attracting customers.

According to the convenience store industry on the 14th, at CU, sales of premium ice cream increased by 18.0% from the previous week between the 7th and 12th, while sales of fruits and detergents rose by 7.2% and 8.2%, respectively. During the same period, GS25 saw meat sales surge by 297.7% and grain sales by 175.4%. Seven Eleven also recorded a 176.2% increase in meat sales and a 94.4% increase in fruit sales, while Emart24 reported a 121% growth rate in meal kit sales and 21% in fruit sales.

Earlier, convenience stores prepared large-scale discount events centered on food, beverages, and daily necessities in line with the timing of the National Support Fund distribution. The strategy is to attract grocery shopping demand from large supermarkets to convenience stores. In the case of CU, about 1,500 products including beverages, snacks, home meal replacements (HMR), alcoholic beverages, and daily necessities are subject to buy-one-get-one-free offers and discount events. Considering that the average number of products operated per store is about 3,000, nearly half of the products are participating in the events.

An industry official said, "As local consumption centered on convenience stores increases and the culture of shopping for daily necessities expands, we are significantly expanding giveaways and discount events to help thrifty consumption," adding, "We are continuously planning various promotions that will be helpful to households as a useful consumption channel for the National Support Fund."

Home appliances sold at convenience stores are also popular. At GS25, home appliance sales increased by 72% compared to the previous week from the 7th to the 12th, and at Seven Eleven, sales rose by 76.6%. Reflecting the significant increase in high-priced product sales during the nationwide emergency disaster relief fund distribution last year, GS25 expanded its home appliance product lineup from about 60 to 90 items, including Apple AirPods, Galaxy Watch4, 65-inch TVs, and microbial food processors. Customers can order products by referring to catalogs available in stores, and the items are delivered to their homes. Seven Eleven sells about 50 types of home appliances, including Nintendo Switch and coffee machines. CU and Emart24 also sell about 50 and 10 types of home appliances, respectively.

At GS25 and Emart24, sales of the Galaxy Watch4 were suspended due to a shortage of stock. Although the National Support Fund cannot be used at Samsung Electronics dealerships and online, it can be used at convenience stores, which caused a rush of customers. Some critics argue that this goes against the purpose of the National Support Fund, which is to help small business owners.

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