What: The continuing and growing strength of the convenience format in the county.

Why it is important: Convenience is developing even further as a customer demand. Ubiquitous convenience stores are also shifting to cater to more of their customers’ needs.

According to The Korea Herald, convenience stores in the country outperformed department stores in 2020 for the first time in terms of offline sales. The combined sales of GS25, CU, and 7-Eleven took 31% of total offline sales, up from 29.2% the previous year.

The big three department stores Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae, took 28.4%, down from 30.4% the previous year. The rise of convenience stores is largely attributed to the anti-crowd, shop-near-home trend amid the strict social distancing measures put in place to contain covid. Also, convenience stores are selling a wider range of products.

Korea Herald Convenience stores outperform pandemic-hit department stores in 2020