[AZ on the Move] ② "No Time or Money to Waste at Peak Hour"... 367-Day Sales Effect of Convenience Store Quick Commerce

Dense Office Districts Drive Demand for Ready Meals and Snacks
Average Transaction Value Rises, Boosting Additional Sales
Orders Over 10,000 Won Delivered Within an Hour
Delivery Fee Discounts for Purchases Over 20,000 Won

Editor's NoteThe retail industry is currently engaged in a fierce delivery war. Unlike in the past, when it took several days to receive ordered products, the speed has now accelerated beyond next-day delivery to same-day delivery, including weekends. Not only e-commerce and delivery platforms, but also large supermarkets, smaller markets, and convenience stores in offline channels have joined this delivery competition. A reporter in his 40s, representing the 'AZ' (Ajae) generation, shares his firsthand experiences from the frontlines of this delivery battle.

The CU BGF Building store, operated directly by BGF Retail near its headquarters in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, stands out for its large selection of products such as lunchboxes, gimbap, and ready-to-eat meals that are especially popular with office workers in the area. Compared to other stores, this location offers a significantly greater variety of these meal options, catering to the dense office district surrounding it.

After 11 a.m., as lunchtime approached, office workers began pouring into the store without pause. At that moment, a familiar announcement played over the store's background music.

"A delivery or pickup order has been received."

This was a signal that an online order had been placed.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and related industries, there were 54,852 convenience store locations in Korea as of last year. In major commercial areas, including Seoul and the greater metropolitan region, you can find a convenience store on nearly every block. The key advantages of convenience stores are their accessibility?clustered near residential and work areas?and the ability to use them 24 hours a day, regardless of time. Quick commerce, which delivers products within an hour from convenience stores close to daily life or allows customers to pick up their orders directly, is rapidly expanding.

A customer is examining a lunchbox ordered through quick commerce at the CU BGF Building store in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Provided by BGF Retail

Areas Dense with Office Workers... Rising Demand for Ready Meals and Snacks

At the second test site, the CU BGF Building store, quick commerce orders peaked during lunchtime. When the order slip was printed out, it listed two packs of vitamin jelly of the same brand and three boxes of snacks. Having previously sweated through the process of searching for ordered items in a large supermarket packed with products, the task was much easier in the well-organized sections of the convenience store. After verifying the items by scanning their barcodes, the products were placed in a plastic bag and the printed receipt was attached, completing the preparation for delivery. The entire process took less than 10 minutes. The collected items were then handed over to a rider from a partnered delivery platform to be delivered to the customer.

Meanwhile, another signal indicated a new order had been received. This time, it was a pickup order. The bag was filled with food items requested by the customer, including a kimchi pork lunchbox, tuna mayo gimbap, a carbonated drink, and snacks. A customer who visited the store to pick up an order placed from a nearby office said, "I often use the convenience store pickup service because I can get exactly what I want without waiting during the busy lunch hour," adding, "There are also many discount coupons and benefits provided by the platforms partnered with CU, so I sometimes order delivery to my home as well."

A customer is checking the product ordered through quick commerce by barcode at CU BGF Building Store in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Provided by BGF Retail

Increased Average Transaction Value and Additional Sales Effect

CU was the first in the industry to launch a convenience store delivery service in partnership with the delivery platform Yogiyo in 2019. Since then, it has expanded its quick commerce services through its own commerce application, Pocket CU, as well as through partnerships with more than 10 companies, including Baemin, Happy Order, and Baedal Teukgeup. Customers can select a CU store within a 1.5 km radius, make a purchase of at least 10,000 won, and pay an additional 3,000 won delivery fee to have their items delivered within 30 to 40 minutes. If the purchase amount exceeds 20,000 won, customers can use a 3,000 won discount coupon.

Lee Eunrak, head of the BGF Retail Online Commerce Team, said, "When non-face-to-face interactions became the norm during COVID-19, consumers experienced the convenience of convenience store delivery services, and usage frequency increased significantly. In offline stores, it is not easy for the average transaction value to exceed 10,000 won, but with quick commerce services such as delivery and pickup, the minimum order amount is 10,000 won, and many customers add more than 20,000 won worth of products to receive discounts, so we can expect additional sales."

In fact, the year-on-year sales growth rate for CU's delivery service was 64.0% in 2022, 98.6% in 2023, and 142.8% in 2024, showing a steady increase each year. The number of stores offering quick commerce also increased from 10,300 in 2022 to 11,000 in 2023, and 12,500 in 2024, surpassing 13,000 as of this month. As of last year, 70.4% of CU stores nationwide, or 12,958 out of 18,458 locations, offered delivery and pickup services.

Currently, more than 3,000 items can be purchased through CU's quick commerce service, including ready meals, desserts, daily necessities, ice, and instant coffee. Lee Seokmin, a manager in the BGF Retail Online Commerce Team, explained, "With the exception of products that require adult verification such as alcohol, large bundles of bottled water that pose a risk to riders due to weight, and popular out-of-stock items that are difficult to secure in quantity, most categories are available for delivery." As of this month, the most frequently delivered product categories were beverages, snacks, processed foods for meals, ready meals, health foods, bread, rice cakes, desserts, and ice cream, in that order.

CU plans to further expand quick commerce, which can generate additional sales for offline stores. Since May 15, CU has also started offering services through "Naver Now Delivery," an AI recommendation-based shopping service on Naver Plus Store. Among domestic convenience store operators, CU is the first to provide delivery and pickup services through this channel. Lee added, "Assuming that delivery and pickup services via online orders add an extra day's worth of sales to the 365 days of annual revenue, we set a goal of achieving '366 days of sales.' The response has been better than expected, and we are now seeing results that are closer to '367 days' of sales."