Seven Eleven's 'Last Order' Surpasses 140,000 Units in Cumulative Sales

Over 8,000 Service Usage Sign-ups Nationwide
High Demand for Dosirak, Majority Male in Their 20s and 30s
Product Orders and Sales Increase, Waste Decreases

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Seven Eleven's last-minute discount sales service, 'Last Order,' launched in February, is receiving great responses from customers.

Seven Eleven announced on the 25th that within about 50 days of launching the Last Order service, cumulative sales reached 140,000 units, resulting in a waste reduction amounting to 350 million KRW. Currently, the Last Order service is subscribed to by over 8,000 stores nationwide and is actively operated in about 4,500 stores.

Last Order is a near-expiration product trading platform developed and operated by 'Miro,' a startup recognized as an excellent company by Lotte Accelerator's startup fund investment. Seven Eleven introduced this service in February as the first convenience store in the industry through a partnership with Miro. The current target items include about 330 products with relatively short shelf lives, such as lunch boxes, triangular kimbap, gimbap, and beverages.

◆ Lunch boxes have the highest demand... Main customer base is males in their 20s and 30s = The product category with the highest sales in the Last Order service is the 'Mi-ban' category, including lunch boxes and triangular kimbap, accounting for 72% of total sales. Mi-ban products are representative convenience store ready meals with high customer familiarity and preference, and since their shelf life is about 36 hours?shorter than beverages or fresh foods?the frequency of product registration is relatively high.

By age, those in their 20s and 30s, who are familiar with lifestyle shopping using mobile devices, each account for about 35%, forming the main customer base. By gender, males accounted for 65.5%, higher than females at 34.5%. Since most convenience store foods are easy to consume, offering time efficiency, this typical customer characteristic reflects that males tend to prefer these products more than females.

By time of day, the evening hours between 6 PM and 8 PM had the highest sales at 22.0%, followed by after 4 PM at 13.4%, as more people look for snacks in the late afternoon.

◆ A virtuous cycle of increased ordering and sales with reduced waste = The Last Order service has also proven effective in improving store operation efficiency for franchisees. Analysis of sales from the top 100 stores operating the Last Order service showed that total orders for service-targeted product categories increased by 21.8% compared to the previous year. Sales rose by 24.6%, while waste decreased by 6.4%.

Increasing product orders strengthens product assortment, which naturally leads to increased sales, and even if some products remain unsold, the Last Order service helps avoid waste.

The store most actively utilizing the Last Order service nationwide is Seven Eleven's 'Yonghyeon Guldari Branch,' where waste decreased by 45.6% after implementing the service, and orders and sales increased by 25.4% and 32.3%, respectively.

Kim Juran, manager of Seven Eleven Yonghyeon Guldari Branch, said, “The Last Order service has increased customer visits and led to additional sales, greatly helping improve store profitability.”

Meanwhile, Seven Eleven will continue half-price discount events this month following last month to ensure more stable establishment of the Last Order service. Additionally, the target categories will be expanded first to desserts and refrigerated items in the first half of the year, with plans to eventually expand to all food categories.

Kim Younghyuk, head of Seven Eleven's Business Strategy Division, said, “As the Last Order service shows remarkable visible effects, satisfaction among both customers and franchisees is increasing over time. There is also growing interest in the Last Order service overseas. Korea Seven may serve as a catalyst for excellent domestic startups to enter overseas markets.”