CU, 62.4% Increase in End-of-Day Discount Sales Transactions... "Reduced Waste Rate and Sales Growth"

The number of transactions using CU's discount sale service, 'Green Save Service,' increased by 62.4% compared to the previous year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] CU announced on the 30th that the number of uses of its end-of-day discount sales service, ‘Green Save Service,’ increased by 62.4% year-on-year, and related sales rose by 75.7%.

In the case of CU Guro Partner Store, the top store in Green Save Service sales, the service reduced the disposal rate of general food items such as bread and dairy products to almost 0%, and rather increased sales volume by selling at discounted prices, resulting in an overall sales increase of about 10%.

CU’s Green Save Service is a service that sells products nearing their expiration date or slow-selling items at up to 50% discounted prices. It covers about 3,000 products ranging from ready-to-eat meals with short shelf lives such as lunch boxes, to beverages, snacks, and HMR (Home Meal Replacement) items. During about one year of service operation, the highest-selling product category was snacks, accounting for 25.5% of total sales. This was followed by ramen at 14.2%, biscuits and cookies at 11.7%, desserts at 8.7%, and instant meals at 8.5%.

The Green Save Service can be accessed through the ‘Last Order’ app, a trading app for products nearing expiration dates. Currently, the service is operated at over 2,000 CU stores nationwide. Customers select and pay for products listed on the Last Order app, which sends a sales notification to the store. Store staff then pre-pack the items, and customers visit the store at the designated time to pick up their orders.

A BGF Retail official said, “The annual cost of food waste disposal in South Korea reaches about 2 trillion won, causing significant socioeconomic losses and environmental issues,” and added, “From the perspective of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, we will continuously expand the Green Save Service to help customers shop economically and contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of our stores.”