Returning Travelers Buy 'Snacks' When Going Home... 'Coffee and Gas Hwalmyungsu' When Coming Back

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] An analysis of convenience store sales at rest areas during the holiday season revealed that snacks were the most popular when traveling to hometowns, while coffee was the favorite on the return trip.

According to BGF Retail on the 20th, CU analyzed the sales of 30 convenience store products excluding cigarettes at rest areas during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays over the past three years. Snacks ranked first in sales on the outbound route, while coffee topped sales on the inbound route.

At rest area convenience stores on the outbound route from cities like Seoul to hometowns, snacks accounted for 19.9% of total product sales. This was about twice as high as coffee, which ranked second at 10.8%. Following were ice cream at 6.9%, carbonated drinks at 4.8%, and bottled water at 4.4%. Convenient items such as cup fruits were also popular.

On the other hand, on the inbound route returning home, coffee accounted for about 20.2% of total sales. Functional health drinks, including energy drinks, vitamin drinks, and hangover relief drinks, followed closely at 9.4%. Fatigue recovery products like Bacchus and digestive aids such as Gas Hwal Myeong Su, which help with overeating, also showed high sales.

Meanwhile, the inbound route convenience stores recorded about 22% higher total sales and customer numbers compared to the outbound route. This indicates that travelers stop more frequently at rest areas on their way back home than when going to their hometowns. The average daily number of customers at rest area convenience stores during the holiday period was about 4.1 times higher than usual and more than 12 times higher than at regular stores.

Yoon Hyun-soo, head of sales planning at BGF Retail, said, “To create a comfortable resting space for outbound and inbound customers, we have differentiated product assortments and inventory by store on the outbound and inbound routes based on sales data from the past three years.” He added, “Since this is the period with the highest number of customers throughout the year, we will make thorough preparations and do our best to maximize customer convenience during this Lunar New Year holiday as well.”