The Second Yonsei Cream Bread and Wonsoju... Convenience Stores Bet Their Lives on Differentiated Products

Igeonjun "Fostering CU's Exclusive Strategic Products"
Heo Yeonsu "Achieving Ultra-Gap with Hit Products"
Focus on Expanding Online Ecosystem

This year, convenience stores have set differentiated products and the establishment of an online ecosystem as their core strategies. They plan to release hit products like the second Yonsei Milk Cream Bread and Won Soju to create a significant gap with competitors, and to capture their main customer base, the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), by activating their applications (apps).

Lee Geon-jun, CEO of BGF Retail (left), Hyun Soo Hur, CEO of GS Retail.

According to the industry on the 1st, Lee Geon-jun, CEO of BGF Retail, stated at the regular shareholders' meeting on the 28th of last month, "We will strengthen competitiveness by fostering CU's unique strategic products and discovering differentiated products," adding, "This year, we will continue to focus on developing innovative products leading the industry and on groundbreaking marketing activities to further enhance customer favorability toward the brand." According to CU, the Yonsei Milk Cream Bread released last year surpassed cumulative sales of 25 million units, and the Gode Bread exceeded 2 million units.

GS25 has seen popularity with the re-release of the Kim Hye-ja lunchbox for the first time in six years since early this year. This product has topped sales among approximately 3,500 general convenience store products, leading the golden age of convenience store lunchboxes. Heo Yeon-su, CEO of GS Retail, said at the regular shareholders' meeting on the 23rd of last month, "We will continue to develop hit products that can receive much love from customers this year as well," and added, "We will realize a true super-gap compared to competitors."

Seven Eleven is currently promoting Soju Han Jan and Joo Hyun-young Bibimbap. Soju Han Jan, collaborated with singer Lim Chang-jung, sold out its initial production volume of 100,000 units, and the Joo Hyun-young Bibimbap lunchbox sold 600,000 units within six days of its release. Emart24 held a product exhibition called the ‘Delicious Festival’ on the 8th of last month. At this event, Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, personally visited, listened to explanations for about an hour, and tasted and sampled various foods and drinks. Vice Chairman Chung emphasized, "In an era of uncertain management environments, focusing obsessively on customers and products, investing, and innovating will allow us to overcome crises and seize greater opportunities for leaps forward."

Convenience stores are also putting their lives on the line to expand their online territories. This is because the domestic convenience store market has practically reached saturation, making it difficult to expand the number of stores. As of the end of last year, the number of offline stores was 16,787 for CU, 16,448 for GS25, 14,300 for Seven Eleven (including Ministop), and 6,365 for Emart24. Each company is strengthening the linkage between offline and online by providing delivery orders, pickups, reservation purchases, and inventory inquiries through their applications (apps). CEO Lee expressed, "We will build and expand CU's unique online ecosystem in line with shopping trends that cross online and offline." CEO Heo also said, "We will strengthen overwhelming competitiveness through improved data capabilities," adding, "In a changing management environment, the ability to utilize data is becoming an essential competitive capability for survival."