Sales from Foreigner-Friendly Payment Services Up 66.5% Year-on-Year
K-Convenience Stores Emerge as Must-Visit Tourist Destinations
Expanded Discounts for Chinese Tourists, Launch of Japanese Payment Service
GS25, the convenience store operated by GS Retail, announced on September 22 that this year’s sales to overseas tourists have reached an all-time high.
According to GS25’s analysis of sales generated through foreigner-friendly easy payment services such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay, sales from January to August this year increased by 66.5% compared to the same period last year. Compared to the same period in 2023, this represents a 312.9% increase.
GS25 announced on the 22nd that it has recorded the highest foreign customer sales ever and is conducting events such as launching K-Pop Demon Hunters products to attract overseas tourists and offering discounts on simple payment methods for foreigners. Provided by GS Retail
This is attributed to the rise of K-convenience stores as a “tourist destination,” which has led to a surge in overseas tourist demand. According to Korea Tourism Data Lab, the number of overseas tourists visiting Korea from January to July this year reached 10 million, an increase of more than 1.3 million compared to the same period last year.
The diversification of overseas tourists’ consumption patterns is also driving up convenience store sales. Alongside traditionally popular items such as banana milk, soft-boiled eggs, and beer, products like convenience store highballs, dessert bread, Greek yogurt, and K-pop albums are emerging as new favorites among overseas tourists. A GS25 representative explained, “There is a clear trend of overseas tourists wanting to purchase products that are currently popular among Koreans, rather than just typical souvenirs. In fact, more overseas tourists are visiting GS25 stores to buy trending products they have searched for on social media.”
Going forward, GS25 plans to enhance differentiated benefits such as products and services for overseas tourists. In light of the temporary visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists and China’s Golden Week holiday, GS25 will offer the following promotions: a 15% instant discount for purchases over 5 yuan via Alipay (until the 31st of next month), a 15% instant discount for payments made with UnionPay (until February next year), and preferential exchange rates for payments made with WeChat Pay at GS25 stores (until the 31st of next month). In addition, until the 12th of next month, GS25 will launch a lucky draw promotion in partnership with Alipay, where Alipay customers will be entered into a draw to win prizes such as coupons worth 1,000 yuan.
Services tailored for Japanese tourists will also be strengthened. As part of its strategy to expand foreigner payment options, GS25 will officially introduce “PayPay,” Japan’s largest easy payment service, starting on the 24th. Developed jointly by SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, PayPay is a QR code-based payment method and is known as the number one mobile payment service in Japan, with 70 million users.
GS25 also plans to accelerate the influx of both domestic and overseas customers by officially launching “K-Pop Demon Hunters” (K-Pop Demon Hunters) collaboration products in offline stores. These collaboration products are planned in partnership with Netflix and are operated exclusively by GS25 in the industry. Since September 17, products such as Tuna Mayo & Jeonju Bibim Half-and-Half Gimbap, Jeonju Bibim & Spicy Pork Couple Rice Balls, and Assorted Snack Sets have been released sequentially as part of the K-Pop Demon Hunters collaboration. On the very first day of the official launch, more than 50,000 units were sold.
GS25 will designate eight key stores in areas with high overseas tourist traffic as “K-Pop Demon Hunters specialty stores.” These stores will feature interior and exterior promotional wraps, posters, life-size cutouts, and dedicated display stands to provide a visually engaging and differentiated experience.
Lee Jeongpyo, Head of Marketing at GS Retail, stated, “As K-culture spreads, Korean convenience stores have become a must-visit destination for overseas tourists, driving foreign customer sales to record highs. We will continue to rapidly strengthen differentiated services for overseas tourists, in line with the temporary visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists and the steady influx of Japanese tourists, further solidifying our position as Korea’s leading convenience store.”
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