[Retail Revolution] "We Even Rent Dyson"…The Infinite Expansion of Convenience Stores

Beyond Installing ATMs
Enabling Account Opening and Card Issuance
Printing Resident Certificates and Language Test Scores via Unmanned Multifunctional Machines

Utilizing the Advantage of Being Everywhere in the Neighborhood
Providing Convenience Beyond Consumption to Daily Life Convenience

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Kim Minjeong (30), an office worker living in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, stopped by a convenience store instead of a hair salon before attending a friend's wedding on the weekend. She wanted to try the Dyson Airwrap styler, which she had wanted to use for a long time but found too expensive, so she rented it. Using the ‘Pick&Pick’ application (app), she selected a nearby CU store and the rental start date, and used the styler for 10 days at a rental fee of 50,000 won. Kim said, "I thought of it as paying for one blow-dry at a hair salon and tried renting it," adding, "Next time, I want to rent a Cinebeam projector for a home party with friends."

As of March 2022, there are about 50,000 convenience stores nationwide. Most are located within walking distance from home, in what is called ‘Seulse-gwon’ (meaning ‘within slipper distance’). Convenience stores, which had boasted the advantage of allowing consumers to conveniently buy daily necessities within their residential radius, now need to develop differentiated competitiveness in an era where ‘ordering and delivery to the doorstep within hours’ is possible. Convenience stores have moved beyond ‘consumer convenience’ to provide ‘lifestyle convenience.’ They have expanded their roles beyond selling simple food items to include banking, community center services, laundromats, post offices, and more.

The financial functions have evolved beyond just installing ATMs inside convenience stores to the level where issuing check cards is possible. Last year, BGF Retail signed an agreement with Hana Bank and renewed the ‘Songpa-gu CU Macheon Park Branch’ to open the country’s first Private Label Convenience Store (PLCS). They created a ‘Hana Bank Smart Self Zone’ there and installed a comprehensive financial machine capable of over 50 banking services, allowing customers to perform deposits and withdrawals, passbook updates, account openings, check card issuance, and security card issuance. The number of customers at this store increased by about 20% compared to the previous year, and sales also rose due to purchases made ‘while stopping by.’ GS Retail partnered with KB Kookmin Bank last year to launch the simple payment fintech system ‘GS Pay,’ which surpassed 800,000 subscribers as of last month. Once a credit card is linked once, customers can make easy payments not only at GS25 but also at GS Retail’s online and offline shops. This system aims to ‘lock in customers’ through easy payments and exclusive benefits.

Convenience stores also provide community center functions. BGF Retail expanded its unmanned multifunction printer service to about 300 stores, enabling printing of resident registration certificates, language test score reports, and more at convenience stores. The maximum monthly usage per store reaches up to 18,000 times. GS Retail allows payment of public utility bills and taxes for 101 institutions. Usage rates are high in areas with many foreigners and single-person households. Seven Eleven introduced a comprehensive civil document printing service. By selecting the civil documents to be issued through the ‘PickCon’ app and choosing the desired store for printing, customers can receive certificates provided by Government24.

Convenience stores leverage their offline strengths to compete against e-commerce while also serving as online forward bases. Utilizing their geographic advantage of being located throughout urban areas, they function as micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs), essential for fast delivery close to the orderer’s location. Lotte’s acquisition of Ministop earlier this year was largely motivated by the calculation that, combined with Seven Eleven, they could use a total of 13,706 stores nationwide as delivery bases for quick commerce. To capitalize on geographic advantages in online delivery, collaborations are also active. BGF Retail expanded its order delivery service in partnership with Yogiyo. With orders available through the Yogiyo app at over 5,000 locations, usage increased by 65.1% compared to the previous year. GS Retail launched its dedicated delivery app ‘Woodel-Order’ in June last year. The cumulative number of orders has reached 1 million so far. Seven Eleven’s convenience store parcel service usage also increased by 22.2% last year compared to the previous year.

Experts expect convenience stores to continue evolving by strengthening online and offline services closely tied to consumers’ lives. Professor Eunhee Lee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, “Convenience stores are evolving based on their geographic advantage of being located throughout neighborhoods, integrating services that consumers need by region,” adding, “They are transforming into useful stores that provide lifestyle services targeting their main customer base of single-person and nuclear families.”

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