High Inflation Drives Frugal Tech Trend... CU's Time Sales and Subscription Coupons Gain Popularity

Friend Time Event Product Sales Up 27.3%

Customers are using subscription coupons at the convenience store CU.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, amid the era of high inflation, the trend of frugal spending, or "jjantech," has been rising, and time sales and subscription coupons at convenience stores are gaining great popularity.

According to CU on the 16th, sales of the ‘Chingu (79) Time’ promotional products, which offer an immediate 30% discount when paying with a promotional card between 7-9 AM and 7-9 PM this month, increased by 27.3% compared to the previous month. By category, alcoholic beverages rose 41.5%, ready meals 34.7%, fruits 22.1%, and side dishes 18.9%. Participation in the stamp event, which awards a 3,000 KRW voucher after purchasing promotional products 10 times, also increased by 20% compared to August last year.

The subscription coupon service on CU’s membership application, PocketCU, which allows users to receive discounts a set number of times each month for 1,000 to 4,000 KRW, is also receiving a positive response. This month, the total number of subscription coupon users and usage increased by 336% and 397%, respectively, compared to the previous year. In particular, usage of meal-related subscription coupons such as lunch boxes increased significantly by 191.1%, kimbap by 86.4%, and cup noodles by 54.7%.

Sales of Green Save, which offers products nearing their expiration date at discounts of up to 70%, also rose by 19.2% compared to the same period last year.

A BGF Retail official said, “To help customers burdened by inflation shop smartly, we are actively conducting promotions and events both online and offline. Centered on the explosively popular time sales, we will continuously introduce promotions that provide greater benefits by closely analyzing consumer responses and preferred products.”