"Alcohol Vending Machine Sales Soar"... CU Expands Smart Refrigerator Deployment

CU introduces smart refrigerators at CU Haevichi Resort store in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] CU announced on the 8th that it will introduce a smart refrigerator at the CU Haevichi Resort store in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, to verify the commercialization of an unmanned liquor vending machine.

In July, CU became the first in the industry to launch a liquor vending machine. In October, sales from the liquor vending machine increased by 251.6% compared to the initial introduction period. During the same period, the proportion of liquor vending machine sales in the total liquor sales at the stores where it was introduced also rose from 4.8% to 11.6%. Sales of items with high purchase rates alongside liquor, such as ramen (16.7%), refrigerated side dishes (23.8%), and processed meat products (33.7%), also increased.

Through the introduction of this smart vending machine, CU plans to comprehensively analyze various aspects such as space efficiency, system stability, and customer convenience, and subsequently expand the application of smart vending machines to hybrid stores located in various locations. CU’s hybrid convenience stores have been steadily increasing, with about 90 stores in 2019, about 190 stores in 2020, and approximately 300 stores as of October 2021.

A BGF Retail official stated, “The unmanned liquor vending machine overcomes the limitations of hybrid convenience stores that could not sell liquor at night, significantly improving the operational efficiency of retail channels,” and added, “We will continue to conduct research to introduce innovative convenience store models utilizing cutting-edge information and communication technology.”

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