In 2021, convenience stores witnessed higher current growth compared to 2020 due to several factors. First, most schools and workplaces gradually resumed normal operations, helping the recovery of footfall in areas where convenience stores are densely located.
GS25 retained its overall leadership of convenience stores in 2021 in value share terms because of its continued efforts to expand its number of outlets. Although a temporary issue due to a boycott emerged in May 2021 due to a scandal involving images used in advertisements, GS25 continued to focus on introducing a new initiative, such as launching GS Pay and expanding coverage of online orders via the KakaoTalk messenger app to around 5,000 outlets across the country.
emart24 has invested in expanding its offer of alcoholic drinks in its outlets, as the convenience store aims to position itself as a drinks specialist. Approximately half of emart24’s outlets have adopted the speciality shop concept, contributing to selling 1.
Although local consumers, especially the younger population and single-person households, have formed a habit of shopping at convenience stores throughout the pandemic, the loosening of social distancing measures due to the rollout of the country’s vaccination programme, is expected to affect footfall. Other grocery channels, such as supermarkets, have invested in sharpening their delivery services and sourcing high-quality fresh food products to attract customers, which will likely negatively impact the performance of convenience stores over the forecast period.
Convenience stores managed to survive the pandemic-led lifestyle shift and the downturn in bricks- and-mortar retail due to its prime locations. However, as mobile shopping has quickly gained in popularity across all generations since 2020, convenience store players have begun to receive orders from various channels, including the channel’s own mobile apps, third party delivery apps, and the mobile messenger app KakaoTalk.
As hyperlocal shopping and delivery become mainstream, convenience store players are developing strategies to make the most of their vast outlet networks or create new formats. CU announced in September 2021 that it will work with KEB Hana Bank to install smart teller machines inside its offline outlets to help customers access banking services more conveniently.
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Chained grocery retail outlets selling a wide range of groceries and fitting several of the following characteristics: Extended opening hours Selling area of less than 400 sq metres Located in residential neighbourhoods Handling two or more of the following product categories: audio-visual goods (for sale or rent), foodservice (prepared take-away, made-to-order, and hot foods), newspapers or magazines, cut flowers or pot plants, greetings cards, automotive accessories. Sales data excludes foodservice sales. Example brands include 7-Eleven, Spar. Note: The number of branches required to be termed chained varies from country to country but is usually ten or more. If a multinational is operating in the country, then this is included, even if there are fewer than ten outlets under the brand.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Convenience Stores research and analysis database.
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