"Grab a Bite Before You Go"...Convenience Store Offers Lunchboxes for Around 1,000 Won and Triangular Gimbap for Around 300 Won

Sales at stores in private education districts soared last year
Gimbap up 4x, lunchboxes 3.6x, writing instruments 5.5x
"Black-and-White Chef" ready meals 80% off with Samsung Wallet Money
Lunchboxes from around 1,000 won...sanitary pads up to 60

GS25, the convenience store chain operated by GS Retail, will run a large-scale discount promotion throughout March for more than 1,500 popular products to coincide with the upcoming new school term season.

GS25 compared sales at around 100 key stores located near elementary, middle, and high schools as well as universities nationwide from March 4 to 7 last year with sales on the corresponding days of the previous month (February 25 to 28). The analysis showed that demand from students is heavily concentrated at the start of the new term, leading to a sharp increase in sales across key categories. Ready-to-eat meal categories posted strong growth overall, including: lunchboxes up 260.0%, Gimbap up 338.2%, rice balls up 403.7%, and hamburgers and sandwiches up 308.2%.

Snack sales also stood out. Chicken25 products surged by 976.5%, while cup noodles (up 277.8%), processed milk (up 272.3%), chilled desserts (up 237.4%), energy drinks (up 189.3%), and snacks (up 197.2%) all recorded high growth rates. As more students use services such as online shopping and secondhand trading, sales of the Half-Price Parcel service rose 20.3%. Sales of sanitary pads (up 474.0%), writing instruments (up 450.9%), portable batteries (up 250.6%), small-sized cosmetics (up 153.5%), and over-the-counter emergency medicines (up 100.3%) also increased.

Reflecting this demand, GS25 has selected nine core categories, including ready-to-eat meals, snacks, alcoholic beverages, and desserts, and will run a large-scale, intensive discount campaign throughout March. Its strategy is to capture new-term demand by strengthening tangible, real-life benefits for customers.

First, 14 collaborative ready-to-eat products from the "Black & White Chef 2" series will be offered at an 80% discount when paid with Samsung Wallet Money. With this, lunchboxes can be purchased for around the 1,000 won range, and triangular Gimbap for as low as the 300 won range. Customers will also receive a 50% discount when placing delivery or pickup orders via the Our Neighborhood GS app. Among the bestsellers in the Seoul Milk dessert series, three types of Mochi Roll and two types of Mochi Ball will be available on a buy-one-get-one-free basis when paid with GS Pay.

Discounts on daily essentials have also been strengthened. For sanitary pads, GS25 will run 1+1 and 2+1 promotions on a record-high 97 products, and three types of Yuhan-Kimberly Good Feel sanitary pads will be offered at a discount of as much as 60%.

In addition, GS25 will exclusively run, within the convenience store industry, a promotion where customers can select six of Nongshim's popular snacks such as Potato Chips and Honey Kkwa-Bae-Gi, and receive a 40% discount when purchasing six items. For 26 types of ion drinks, 1+1 and 2+1 promotions will be available. For snacks such as Chicken25 and Gopizza, GS25 will run 1+1 deals and discounts of up to 50%. In particular, during the international sports event starting on March 5, on days when Team Korea plays, two popular Chicken25 items will be offered at 50% off.

GS25 will also run 2+1 promotions on six popular large-cup instant noodles such as Chamkkae Ramen, Shin Ramen Tumba, and Baehongdong Bibim Noodles, as well as five small-cup instant noodles such as Jin Ramen and Saewootang Noodles. Targeting increased demand for white wine in spring, GS25 will run a campaign under the concept "Every Day Is White Day in March," offering more than 20 types of white and sweet wines at a 20% discount when paid with partner credit cards. In addition, customers will receive 20% payback on 27 types of beer bundles when paying with Naver Pay, and an instant payback of 500 GS ALL points on eight popular beers including Daisy Beer when paying with GS Pay.

Song Jiyong, promotion team manager at GS25, said, "We focused on providing tangible benefits by preparing large-scale offers centered on core products where demand is concentrated, from ready-to-eat meals and snacks to daily essentials," adding, "We will continue to expand tailored promotions that reflect seasonal and commercial-area characteristics so that customers can conveniently purchase the products they need at reasonable prices at nearby stores."