'Convenience Store = Tobacco Shop' Is a Thing of the Past... Why Did Tobacco Sales Hit an All-Time Low?

Declining Smoking Population Due to Health-Conscious Trend
Convenience Store Food Sales Surge Also a Factor

The proportion of cigarette sales in convenience stores fell to an all-time low in the first half of this year. The industry expects cigarette sales to continue declining.

According to the semi-annual report of BGF Retail, which operates the convenience store chain CU, the share of cigarette sales in CU's total sales in the first half of this year was 37.1%. This is nearly 4 percentage points lower than 41.0% in 2018, five years ago.

Cigarette sales accounted for 40.1% in 2019, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous year, then rose to 40.8% in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in 2021, it fell below 40% for the first time at 39.5%, and last year it dropped again by nearly 2 percentage points to 37.8%.

Other convenience stores such as GS25, 7-Eleven, and Emart24 have not disclosed related statistics, but it is reported that their situations are similar to CU’s.

A consumer selecting food items at a convenience store in Seoul Photo by Yonhap News

The adult smoking population in Korea has been steadily decreasing alongside the trend of prioritizing health known as ‘Healthy Pleasure.’ According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the proportion of smokers among adults aged 19 and over was 27.8% in 2008, then steadily declined to 27.3% in 2009, 25.8% in 2012, 22.6% in 2015, 22.4% in 2018, and 19.3% in 2021.

The government raised cigarette prices in 2015 and banned smoking in most indoor places in 2014. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has been running various campaigns under the slogan ‘NoDam (No Tobacco) Generation.’ Thanks to these efforts, the youth smoking rate also hit a record low of 4.4% last year.

The recent significant increase in food sales at convenience stores amid the high inflation era is also cited as one of the reasons for the decline in cigarette sales.

According to the sales composition ratio by business type for the first half of this year compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 15th, convenience stores’ sales share was 16.6%, narrowing the gap to department stores (17.6%) to just 1 percentage point. It is 3.3 percentage points higher than large supermarkets (13.3%).

In particular, CU’s semi-annual report shows that the share of food sales, including processed foods, increased by 4.2 percentage points from 53.0% in 2018 to 57.2% in the first half of this year. CU’s lunchbox sales in the first half of this year rose by 33.2% compared to the same period last year.

The increase in single-person households has greatly influenced the perception that purchasing small quantities of food at convenience stores instead of large supermarkets is a rational consumption choice. Convenience stores are quickly responding to consumer demands by offering various services and products targeting this trend.

The industry views convenience stores as evolving from places simply for purchasing items like cigarettes conveniently into a kind of ‘total lifestyle platform.’ This means the era when convenience stores attracted customers as mere ‘cigarette shops’ is over.

Accordingly, the industry expects the proportion of cigarette sales in convenience stores to continue declining. There are even forecasts that cigarette sales will fall below 30% within the next five years.

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