CU Sets Next Year's Keyword as F.A.S.T.E.R: Focus on Differentiation and Global Expansion

Product Differentiation, Global Expansion, Social Responsibility
Advancing Retail Technology, Focus on Expanding Medium and Large Stores

CU announced on December 22 that it has set its core business keyword for the upcoming Year of the Red Horse, Byeong-o, as "FASTER" for next year.

FASTER, which encapsulates CU's main strategies, stands for Frontier (product differentiation), Abroad (global expansion), Station (social responsibility), Tech-driven (advancement of retail technology), Enlarge (expansion of medium and large stores), and Rapid (provision of fast services). The keyword embodies the spirit of a horse running swiftly and powerfully, reflecting next year's major strategies for the convenience store industry amid uncertain internal and external business conditions, ongoing high inflation, low growth, and fierce competition.

First, CU plans to proactively discover differentiated products that reflect the latest consumer trends and enhance its product competitiveness in all aspects, including price, quality, and variety. The company aims to broaden its customer base through more segmented, customized products for children, women, and seniors. This year, CU launched a variety of differentiated products such as the Peaceminusone Highball, Ganadi collaboration series, and the value-for-money PBICK series, all of which gained significant popularity. CU is also strengthening categories like cosmetics and health supplements that reflect the latest consumption trends, focusing on nurturing new product categories. In response to the era of high inflation, CU has expanded its ultra-low price "lucky find" series, including 990-won products, with cumulative sales of these products surpassing 80 million units this year.

Next year, CU will actively pursue overseas business expansion (Abroad) without restrictions on continent or country, aiming to extend the global reach of K-convenience stores. CU first entered Mongolia (532 stores) in 2018, Malaysia (167 stores) in 2021, and Kazakhstan (50 stores) in 2024. Leveraging the global store management expertise it has accumulated, CU opened its first store in Hawaii, United States (1 store) in November this year. The number of CU's global stores is expected to reach 800 next year, and the economic benefits as an export industry are projected to grow further.

The company also plans to strengthen its social responsibility (Station) by leveraging its nationwide network of over 18,600 stores, the largest in Korea. CU has been operating the "iCU" system for reporting and preventing child abduction and abuse, helping over 200 children and others return to their families. Since November, CU has also been running Korea's first "Good 100-Won Donation" campaign using self-checkout kiosks at stores nationwide.

CU intends to further enhance operational efficiency through the advancement of retail technology (Tech-driven). In April this year, CU introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) translation service using store PDAs to improve the shopping experience for foreign customers. Since October, the company has also significantly improved store operational efficiency and franchisee convenience by upgrading its proprietary ordering system. Going forward, CU will actively adopt the latest IT technologies, including AI, to strengthen business competitiveness and promote company-wide system upgrades.

Additionally, next year CU will continue its strategy of expanding medium and large stores (Enlarge), focusing on increasing store sales and profitability. The company will use stores of 100 square meters or more as regional hubs to promote differentiated products and specialized stores, and will conduct targeted marketing for key customer segments. This year, CU operated over 6,000 health supplement specialty stores and about 500 beauty specialty stores. Centered on medium and large stores, CU is also opening ramen, snack, music, and K-food specialty stores, as well as flagship and pop-up stores, to provide customers with new convenience store shopping experiences.

Finally, CU will enhance the synergy between online and offline channels to become the convenience store that provides the fastest service (Rapid). This year, CU expanded its quick commerce offerings by joining new delivery platforms such as Naver Now Delivery and Coupang Eats, and maximized customer convenience and store profitability through services like "Get Coffee" delivery and the expansion of deliverable product categories. Next year, the company plans to move its online commerce team to the Customer Experience (CX) division to implement online marketing optimized for convenience stores, quickly introducing a diverse product lineup and lifestyle convenience services.

CEO Min Seungbae stated, "CU is strengthening both rational products and trendy experiences to make customers' daily lives more convenient and easier. Next year, through the FASTER strategy, we will deliver tangible changes that customers can feel in our stores and further enhance the competitiveness of K-convenience stores in the global market."