CU, PET Bottle Beer Sales Up 14.2%
GS25, 1.5ℓ Magnum Wine 'Popular'
Triangle Kimbap and Coffee Also Prefer Large Sizes
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, in the distribution industry, large-capacity products such as alcoholic beverages, triangular kimbap, and ground coffee that lower the price per volume while increasing the size are gaining popularity. This is because as the prices of groceries have risen sharply, more people are seeking cost-effective (performance relative to price) products.
According to CU on the 19th, from the 1st to the 14th of this month, Cass·Terra 1.6ℓ and Cass 1ℓ ranked within the top 10 in sales of domestic beer. In particular, at CU, PET bottle beer sales grew by 14.2%, surpassing cans (8.8%) and bottles (9.2%). During the same period, GS25 recorded a 34.1% growth in PET bottle beer sales, 10% at 7-Eleven, and 16% at Emart24. Larger capacity OB Beer products such as ‘Cass 2.0 Mega PET’ and HiteJinro’s ‘Terra 1.9ℓ’ are also scheduled to be introduced to convenience stores this month.
Large-capacity wine products are also gaining popularity. Currently, GS25 operates about 30 types of magnum (1.5ℓ), which is larger than the regular wine size (750㎖), on the online liquor platform Wine25Plus. The Santa Helena Magnum is the cheapest at 19,900 KRW, while Ch?teau Mouton Rothschild 2004 is the most expensive at 3.14 million KRW. Magnum wine sales growth rate is 260%, higher than the regular size wine sales growth rate of 220%.
As the lunchflation (lunch + inflation) phenomenon continues, large-sized triangular kimbap is becoming the trend. At GS25, large triangular kimbap accounts for 66% of total sales composition, overwhelmingly surpassing regular triangular kimbap (34%). In terms of sales growth rate, large triangular kimbap leads with 35.6%, ahead of regular triangular kimbap (27.7%). At CU, large triangular kimbap recorded a sales growth rate of 22.4%, while regular triangular kimbap grew by 15%. At 7-Eleven, sales of large triangular kimbap surged by 200%, whereas regular triangular kimbap sales increased by only 15%. At Emart24, large triangular kimbap sales increased by 47%, and regular triangular kimbap by 22%.
Instant ground coffee also shows a preference for large sizes. At CU, the sales proportion of large and regular sizes was 72.3% and 27.7%, respectively. The sales growth rate for large size was 54.7%, higher than the regular size (42.6%). At GS25, large size sales increased by 34.6%, and regular size by 30.1%. At 7-Eleven, large size sales rose by 45%, and regular size by 20%. Emart24 recorded sales growth rates of 47% for large size and 36% for regular size.
A convenience store industry official said, “As the high-price phenomenon continues, consumers’ interest in frugal consumption is increasing,” adding, “We plan to actively introduce various sizes of cost-effective products in the future.”
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