[Distribution Hot People] "We Caught Three Rabbits with Last Order 'Closing Discount'"

Yoonho Lee, Manager of Strategic Planning Team at Korea Seven

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The response to the industry's first last-minute discount sales service 'Last Order,' introduced by convenience store 7-Eleven, is heating up. This service, launched through a partnership with the startup 'Miro,' is being praised for achieving three goals: providing a growth platform for the startup, increasing sales for franchise owners, and protecting the environment.

On the 21st, Yoonho Lee, Manager of the Strategy Planning Team at Korea Seven, emphasized the 'field' as the reason for introducing the Last Order service. Last Order is a service developed by the startup Miro that offers a 30% discount on products with relatively short shelf lives, such as lunch boxes and dairy products, when they approach their expiration date. Manager Lee first encountered Miro's last-minute discount service at a startup briefing organized by Lotte Accelerator last year. Lotte Accelerator is an investment corporation established in 2016 by the Lotte Group to foster and invest in startups.

Manager Lee explained, "'The answer lies in the field' is 7-Eleven's management policy, and I had always kept in mind the voices from the field regarding the burden of food waste costs. As soon as I encountered Miro's Last Order at the briefing, I thought we had to partner for the service." His intuition proved correct. The introduction of the Last Order service was left to the discretion of franchise owners, and immediately upon launch, over 8,000 stores nationwide signed up.

He added, "The response from franchise owners has been very positive. Not only can they reduce food waste costs, but customers who come to purchase Last Order products often buy additional items like beverages, leading to increased sales."

In fact, the Last Order service showed a tangible sales increase effect in about 4,000 stores just three weeks after its introduction. The service has received enthusiastic responses, especially from single-person households and students, prompting an extension of the half-price discount event initially scheduled to end this month through next month.

The Last Order service is also closely related to Lotte Group's resource circulation project being promoted this year. To establish an eco-friendly system across all group companies, Lotte Group is implementing three key initiatives: ▲building a plastic circulation system ▲expanding eco-friendly packaging ▲reducing food waste, with the Last Order service marking the first step toward the food waste reduction goal.

Manager Lee stated, "We expect to reduce tens of billions of won in annual disposal costs through the introduction of the Last Order service," and added, "We plan to expand the service to cover the entire food category in the future."