The Return of Beer Discount Events... Convenience Stores Engage in 'Ultra-Low Price Competition'

CU, Beer Sales Increase by 17.8%
Last Year 4 Cans for 10,000 Won → 11,000 Won
Currently Some Items 4 Cans for 8,000 Won

A customer is purchasing beer at Emart24.
Photo by Emart24

The convenience store beer promotion "4 cans for 10,000 won," which disappeared last year, has returned with even stronger discounts on some items. This is because convenience stores have resumed beer discount events as they jump into ultra-low price competition.

According to CU on the 19th, they are holding a Beer Day event every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this month, when beer demand is high, selling 5 popular beers for 10,000 won. This is about 2,000 won per can, representing up to a 50% discount off the regular price. The event includes about 20 products such as Guinness. They sell 8 types of 6-can beer bundles for 12,000 won and 7 types of 4-can bundles for 8,000 won. Fourteen types of beer, including Kronenbourg Blanc, Guinness, and Crown Beer, have a 10% regular discount when purchased as bundles.

GS25 runs a shocking event called "God Sale" from the 20th to the end of each month. For alcoholic beverages, which are the most purchased items by customers, they offer bundle discounts on 12 types of beer including Budweiser, Stella, Hoegaarden, and Guinness at 4 cans for 8,000 won and Guinness Original Can 6 cans for 12,000 won. They plan to change the items monthly focusing on popular products.

Seven Eleven sells Tiger Pomel and Kya Sorina Beer 4-packs for 7,000 won, Hoegaarden, Heineken, Stella Artois, and Guinness Draft 4-packs for 8,000 won. Hanmac and Cass White 4-packs are offered at 10,000 won. Emart24 sells The Kingdom of Belgium 6-packs for 9,600 won, Heineken Silver Can 4-packs for 9,000 won, and Tiger Beer and Edelweiss 6-packs for 12,000 won.

Last year, convenience stores raised the 4 cans for 10,000 won beer promotion to 11,000 won. As the sale of imported beers in convenience stores became full-fledged, the discount event that had been like a formula disappeared after 9 years. This means the price per can rose from 2,500 won to 2,750 won. This is due to increased costs for raw materials such as malt, packaging aluminum, and taxes, which have increased the cost burden on liquor companies.

Currently, convenience store beer sales are steadily rising. According to CU, beer sales from January 1 to the 16th of this month increased by 17.8% compared to the same period last year. During the same period, GS25 saw a 20.3% increase, Seven Eleven 15%, and Emart24 14%. The top 10 imported beers sold at CU were Heineken, Tsingtao, Budweiser, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, Stella, Guinness, Somersby, Asahi, Hoegaarden, and Kirin Ichiban. At GS25, the top sellers were Budweiser (500ml), Heineken, Tsingtao, Stella, 1664 Blanc, Hoegaarden, Somersby, Guinness Dark Beer, Budweiser (740ml), and San Miguel Pale Pilsen.

An industry insider said, "In this era of high inflation, to reduce the burden on consumers' shopping baskets, we have decided to hold beer events at prices even lower than the 4 cans for 11,000 won discount." They added, "In addition to beer, we plan to significantly strengthen discount benefits so that customers can purchase various daily necessities and food items economically, fulfilling the role of a nearby shopping channel."

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