"Free Delivery from Rice to Toilet Paper"... CU Sells Bulk Daily Necessities via App

CU will start selling bulk daily necessities through the reservation purchase menu in the application (app) 'Pocket CU' from the 2nd of next month.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] CU announced on the 29th that starting from the 2nd of next month, it will sell bulk daily necessities through the reservation purchase menu within the application (app) 'Pocket CU.' In other words, convenience stores, which were considered channels for immediate, small-quantity purchases, are now challenging e-commerce and large supermarkets.

To secure price competitiveness, CU will offer grains, fruits and vegetables, daily necessities, and more at the lowest prices both online and offline. All products will be delivered free of charge to the address specified by the customer. In particular, all products sold through CU's reservation purchase service are counted as sales of the store selected by the customer at the time of order, providing a foundation to generate additional revenue for franchise stores that have recently faced difficulties due to COVID-19.

The first reservation purchase products to be sold include about 40 items such as Ttangkkeut Haenam premium Saechungmu rice, Baekdo peaches, white dragon fruit, Ourhome Pogikimchi, and Jonggajib kimchi. Daily necessities, home meal replacement (HMR) products, and diet-related items will also be sold at special prices. Going forward, CU plans to update planned products and CU special price items monthly by analyzing sales trends and customer preferences.

CU plans to use this expansion of free delivery services as a stepping stone to combine small-quantity fast delivery linked with delivery platforms and bulk regular delivery through its own platform. Previously, since May last year, CU has partnered with specialized delivery apps and utilized the industry's largest store network to provide nationwide delivery services.

A BGF Retail official said, “CU has about 16 million membership subscribers, with a higher effective usage rate compared to other shopping apps, securing a solid base of loyal customers,” and added, “We will provide more convenient and reasonable shopping opportunities at various customer touchpoints without boundaries between online and offline channels.”