[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] BGF Retail, the operator of CU, announced on the 1st that it has signed a business partnership agreement with WineGraph, a data-driven wine recommendation service, and will introduce the industry's first wine curation service.
On the 29th of last month, the two companies signed a business partnership agreement for a digital wine curation service at BGF Retail headquarters located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with Song Ji-taek, Head of Innovation Division at BGF Retail, Lee Tae-kyun, CEO of WineGraph, and other officials in attendance.
Based on this business agreement, BGF Retail plans to sequentially launch a digital wine curation service that consolidates the largest domestic wine reviews and social activity data owned by WineGraph. The cooperation details include ▲ linking detailed wine information and user reviews ▲ customized wine recommendations based on PocketCU user activity analysis ▲ pairing suggestions for each wine product.
At the end of August, a wine label search service will be launched. By simply photographing the label attached to the wine in CU's membership app, PocketCU, users can instantly check various product information such as grape variety, country of origin, vintage, style, and alcohol content.
Wine labels contain various information such as grape varieties and wineries, but for the general public lacking background knowledge, it was somewhat intimidating. However, by using the wine label search service, the phone acts as a sommelier, allowing even wine beginners to easily obtain product information.
Since about 70,000 user reviews accumulated in WineGraph are also provided, they can be referenced when purchasing products. Price and promotion information for a total of about 150 types of wines sold at CU are also linked in real time.
The reason CU is focusing so much on wine is that the number of home drinkers has increased due to COVID-19, and the number of people enjoying wine continues to grow. CU's wine sales growth rate recorded a steep rise, with 28.3% in 2018, 38.3% in 2019, 68.1% in 2020, and 128.2% this year (January to July).
The age group enjoying wine is also gradually expanding to younger generations. Looking at CU's wine sales share by age group, the proportion of people in their 20s steadily increased from 18.4% in 2019 to 27.1% in 2020, and 33.1% in 2021 (January to July).
Song Ji-taek, Head of Innovation Division at BGF Retail, said, "As convenience stores have recently established themselves as a major place for purchasing wine, we will be able to provide customers with a newer and more convenient purchasing experience through partnerships with specialized startups," adding, "By collaborating with WineGraph to provide diverse and professional information, we will take the lead in popularizing convenience store wine."
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