Rising Delivery Fees... Convenience Stores and Cafes Become Pickup Bases

CU, Live Fish Sashimi Pickup Sales Increase 5x
Kurly, Wine Pickup Available at Cafes

Recently, as consumers' delivery fee burdens have increased, convenience stores and cafes are being utilized as pickup bases. Unique services such as picking up fresh sashimi at convenience stores and wine at cafes are expanding.

According to CU on the 21st, sales of the fresh sashimi pickup service last month increased about fivefold compared to the first month of operation (March last year). The popularity of the pickup service is steadily rising, recording double-digit monthly sales growth rates since the service began. Looking at the sales share by location, residential areas accounted for 52.7%, villa neighborhoods 20.6%, and one-room apartment dense areas 9.7%, with most sales coming from stores in residential commercial districts. The convenience of customers being able to find fresh and diverse products at nearby CU stores without having to visit Noryangjin Fish Market or Garak Market sashimi restaurants is analyzed as a key factor for its popularity.

CU has expanded the number of stores operating the fresh sashimi pickup service from about 20 to over 400. This service was launched in partnership with the seafood specialized distribution platform In-eo Gyoju Haejeokdan, and if sashimi is ordered before 12 PM in the Seoul area, it can be picked up at a nearby store after 6 PM the same day. Customers can select convenience store pickup at about 30 CU affiliated stores within the In-eo Gyoju Haejeokdan application (app), and when picking up the product, they simply present the order number receipt message to the store staff.

Customers are using the fresh sashimi pickup service at CU.
[Photo by BGF Retail]

Kurly has introduced a wine self-pickup service in collaboration with major coffee brands. Currently, there are over 100 stores where wine can be picked up, including about 80 Coffee Bean locations and about 20 Artisee stores. Coffee Bean offers 'Orpheus and the Raven, Pinotage' from South Africa, while Artisee features 'Corison Sunbasket Cabernet Sauvignon 2018' from Napa Valley, USA, as representative products.

The wine self-pickup service allows customers to order wine from Kurly and then pick up the product directly at a designated offline pickup store. Upon purchase, an exchange voucher is sent via KakaoTalk notification, and customers can receive the product by presenting their ID and the voucher at the respective cafe. Kurly plans to continuously introduce various services to enable customers to shop conveniently.

An industry insider said, “As delivery fees have skyrocketed, the convenience of being able to pick up desired products at nearby convenience stores and cafes is gaining attention,” adding, “Since customer responses are enthusiastic, we will steadily expand the range of pickup service products and the number of operating stores.”