[Convenience Store Empire] Rental Car Service Launch..."How Far Will Convenience Stores Transform?"

Emart24 and 7-Eleven Long-Term Rental Service
CU Electric Vehicle and Motorcycle Charging Stations
"Differentiation Through Life-Oriented Services"

Convenience stores, which have continuously expanded their ancillary services from simple product sales to gold vending machines, civil document printing, and self-studios, are now extending their reach into shared mobility services such as long-term car rentals and electric charging stations.

According to the industry on the 18th, Emart24 is partnering with the domestic and imported car online sales platform 'Carby' to launch a long-term rental car service (renting cars for 2 to 5 years). Customers can apply for consultation by scanning the QR code on promotional materials available at Emart24 stores nationwide. Then, the service provider Carby contacts the customer using the provided contact information to conduct product consultations and payments. Popular domestic cars such as the GV80, Grandeur, and Ioniq, as well as imported cars like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, can be rented at the lowest prices in Korea.

The model is showcasing a long-term rental car service at the Emart24 store in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Emart24]

Seven Eleven will also start a long-term rental car service with the vehicle sales company Carby from the 24th. This service will be conducted in a manner very similar to Emart24’s, but Seven Eleven specializes only in imported cars and additionally offers cash and installment sales services besides rentals. Customers visiting Seven Eleven stores nationwide can make reservations at the store, and Carby’s consultants will handle all purchase procedures from vehicle selection to delivery in one go.

CU is providing electric vehicle and motorcycle charging services at about 30 stores nationwide, mainly in tourist areas such as Jeju Island, aiming for related effects. Customers who wish to use the service can access the electric charging stations at stores anytime with a minimum monthly fee of 10,000 KRW. GS25, in partnership with Nexen Tire, offers tire rental services at GS The Fresh and GS25 stores nationwide.

The reason convenience stores are expanding ancillary services that seem unrelated to direct sales growth is interpreted as an effort to maximize 'related purchases' by attracting customers to stores amid the saturation of convenience store openings, thereby encouraging product purchases.

As of the first half of this year, the number of nationwide stores for CU and GS25, considered the 'Big 2' in the convenience store industry, has steadily increased to 17,400 and 17,000 respectively, but sales per store have slightly declined or remained flat. In this situation, where concerns about 'convenience store oversaturation' arise, they are expanding customer touchpoints and inducing related purchases by providing highly frequented lifestyle services. In fact, after starting parcel delivery services, CU and Seven Eleven have seen related purchase rates increase by nearly 50%.

Professor Lee Young-ae of the Department of Consumer Studies at Incheon National University said, "In a saturated market like now, what is important for convenience stores is not external expansion but customer retention through differentiated service offerings," adding, "It seems the solution devised by the convenience store industry is to increase loyalty by providing lifestyle services tailored to individuals, leveraging their dense store networks as a strength."