Convenience Store Consumer Satisfaction No.1 is 'GS25'... Who is Last?

Consumer Agency Survey of 1,600 People
Average Overall Satisfaction of 4 Companies is 3.76 Points
'Payment Convenience' Rated High by Category
'Promotions and Events' Rated Relatively Low

A survey found that among the four major convenience store chains in South Korea, GS25 operated by GS Retail received the highest consumer satisfaction. On the other hand, Seven Eleven was identified as the convenience store with the lowest satisfaction.

The appearance of a GS25 convenience store

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 3rd that a survey on satisfaction and usage patterns was conducted with 1,600 users who had experience using four franchise convenience stores?CU, GS25, Emart24, and Seven Eleven?within the last six months. The overall satisfaction score for the four convenience stores averaged 3.76 points (out of 5), with GS25 recording the highest score of 3.89. CU and Emart24 also showed respectable satisfaction scores of 3.79 and 3.75 respectively, while Seven Eleven scored 3.61, significantly below the average.

Compared to the survey results from three years ago (3.54 points), the overall satisfaction for these convenience stores increased by 0.22 points. Notably, the 'Service Product Satisfaction,' which evaluates satisfaction with products sold and key services provided by convenience stores, showed the most significant improvement (from 3.67 to 4.01 points). In contrast, satisfaction with 'Service Quality,' which assesses the store environment and customer response (3.68 to 3.73 points), and 'Service Experience,' which evaluates emotions felt during the convenience store usage process (3.50 to 3.55 points), showed relatively smaller improvements (each increased by 0.05 points).

Looking at detailed evaluations by category, satisfaction with 'Store Environment,' which assesses the internal and external management status of the store, was the highest within the service quality category at 3.89 points. Conversely, satisfaction with 'Customer Empathy,' which evaluates efforts to communicate with customers and meet their demands, was the lowest at 3.62 points. In the service product category, satisfaction with 'Payment Convenience,' which evaluates the variety and ease of payment methods and payment detail notifications, was the highest at 4.36 points. On the other hand, satisfaction with 'Promotions and Events,' which assesses the diversity and interest level of promotional and event activities conducted by convenience stores, was relatively low at 3.63 points.

Surveyed consumers reported spending an average of 10,710 KRW per visit to convenience stores. The Korea Consumer Agency explained that this amount represents a 22.6% increase compared to the survey results from three years ago (8,734 KRW). Additionally, 76.7% of respondents visited convenience stores at least once a week, with beverages being the most frequently purchased item at 31.1%. This was followed by ready-to-eat meals at 26.6%, snacks, ice cream, and bakery items at 13.4%, and cigarettes at 9.1%.

The usage rate of lifestyle convenience services provided by convenience stores was 62.1%, an increase of 20.5 percentage points from three years ago (41.6%). The most commonly used lifestyle convenience service was 'parcel delivery' at 25.3%, followed by 'ATM use' at 15.4%, and 'transportation card charging' at 7.4%. Among consumers, 8.8% (141 people) reported experiencing dissatisfaction or damage during their convenience store usage. The types of dissatisfaction or damage (multiple responses allowed) were led by 'lack of stock of desired products' at 52.5%, followed by 'rude staff' at 37.6%, and 'payment errors' at 24.1%.