"MZ Generation Buys New Products First"... CU Sees Increase in New Product Purchase Share

On the 29th, a model at convenience store CU is introducing new products popular among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, the proportion of new product purchases at convenience stores has significantly increased, especially among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

According to CU on the 29th, an analysis of sales of new and old products over the past 10 years showed that the share of new products in total sales increased from 13.7% during 2012-2016 to 18.3% during 2017-2021. This means that one out of five convenience store customers buys new products, indicating a growing trend of adventurous purchases of new items. Looking at the proportion of new product purchases by age group, those in their 20s and 30s showed the highest sensitivity at 41.4% and 35.5%, respectively. This was followed by those in their 40s at 14.0%, teenagers at 5.6%, and those aged 50 and above at 3.5%.

The expansion of new product purchases has changed the sales landscape of convenience stores. While about 830 products accounted for 80% of total sales over the past five years, this number increased to over 1,000 products in the recent five years. The success of new products has diversified the range of items contributing to store sales. Additionally, at CU, the sales composition ratio of tobacco, which has a low margin rate, fell from 40.1% last year to 38.4% this year in the third quarter, while the sales composition ratio of processed foods such as alcoholic beverages, snacks, and dairy products increased from 41.4% to 44.3%.

A BGF Retail official stated, “Convenience stores are the fastest consumer channel to reflect trends, and due to the MZ generation’s desire for new changes, the attention to new products has become much higher than before. We are conducting a marketing innovation project through collaboration among various departments such as product, sales, and marketing to discover outstanding new products unique to CU.”

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