'Jalpasedae Playground' Convenience Store... Rising as a 'Parcel Delivery Hotspot'

GS25 'Half-Price Delivery' and CU 'Budget Delivery'
Delivery at Half the Cost Compared to Traditional Couriers
Up to 1300 Times Growth Compared to Launch Year
Convenience Store Delivery Grows with Increase in Contactless Secondhand Transactions

Parcel delivery services provided by domestic convenience store chains are recording annual growth. This is due to some convenience stores offering affordable parcel services using their own logistics networks, combined with increased demand for contactless secondhand transactions.

According to the distribution industry on the 11th, among domestic convenience stores, GS25 and CU provide parcel delivery services utilizing their own logistics networks. These services, named 'Half-Price Parcel' (GS25) and 'Budget Parcel' (CU), connect each convenience store location. When a parcel customer designates a store near the recipient to send the parcel, it is delivered through each company's logistics network.

Customers are using half-price parcel delivery services at GS25.
[Photo by GS Retail]

CU customers are using the budget-friendly parcel service.
[Photo by BGF Retail]

Since the in-house parcel service uses an already established logistics network, it can reduce costs compared to general parcel services. It operates by collecting or delivering parcel volumes during the process of supplying products to convenience store locations. Although both the sender and receiver must visit the store directly, the saturation and rapid increase in the number of convenience stores have compensated for accessibility issues. The service also supports parcel shipment reservations through the convenience store's own app.

The in-house parcel service has gained popularity due to its low price, with the number of shipments increasing significantly every year. The first company to launch this service in the industry was GS Retail's convenience store GS25. GS25 started the Half-Price Parcel service in 2019, allowing parcels to be sent from as low as 1,800 KRW, about half the price of regular parcel services. The annual usage of Half-Price Parcel, which was only about 90,000 cases in its launch year, grew approximately 13 million cases last year, marking a 130-fold increase in five years. Currently, Half-Price Parcel has stabilized with about 1 million shipments received monthly.

CU, operated by BGF Retail, has also provided its own parcel service called 'Budget Parcel' since 2020. The number of parcels handled by Budget Parcel last year increased more than 11 times compared to its launch year in 2020. CU improved the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) of its unmanned parcel reception device, PostBox, enhancing convenience for Budget Parcel users.

On the other hand, Seven Eleven does not offer parcel services using its own logistics network. Instead, it provides parcel services linked with Lotte Global Logistics, a logistics affiliate of the Lotte Group. Parcels can be accepted through Seven Eleven stores, the official Seven Eleven app, or KakaoTalk using Lotte Global Logistics' service. It also offers parcel services connected with 'Junggonara,' the largest secondhand trading platform in Korea, which is another Lotte affiliate. Seven Eleven's total parcel service sales last year increased by more than 60% compared to the previous year. Additionally, Emart24 operates parcel services in partnership with CJ Logistics.

Most users of convenience store parcel services are young customers aged from their teens to their 30s. It is interpreted that those familiar with convenience store culture are drawn to the convenience store parcel services due to their accessibility and low prices. An analysis of the age groups of customers using GS25's Half-Price Parcel as of last year showed that people in their 20s (42%) and 30s (29%) accounted for more than 70% of users. Similarly, CU's Budget Parcel users aged from their teens to their 30s accounted for 81.5% of customers.

The growth of convenience store parcel services is believed to be influenced by the rapid increase in contactless secondhand transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand to save on shipping costs during secondhand transactions has shifted toward convenience store parcel services. A CU official stated, "The proportion of Budget Parcel usage by customers in their teens and 20s has exceeded half of the total," adding, "The secondhand trading trend among the 'Jalpa Generation' (Generation Z + Alpha Generation), which accounts for more than half of Budget Parcel usage, is the main driving force behind the annual increase in Budget Parcel shipments."