Fashion
The growing interest in ready-made meals and other necessities—driven by an increase in single-adult households—has fueled the growth of convenience stores in South Korea, Yonhap reports. These retailers stock daily essentials and food in smaller quantities and are open 24 hours a day, which provides more opportunities for working adults to shop.
The three biggest chains—7-Eleven, BGF Retail and GS Retail—opened a combined 2,000 new locations this year. Overall, the number of convenience stores in the country jumped to close to 26,000.
GS Retail, which operates GS 25, generated the largest increase with $3.11 billion in sales from January to September 2015, a 36% bump from the same time period in 2014. Meanwhile, BGF Retail posted a 28.8% rise in sales, while 7-Eleven increased its sales by 26.4%, over the same time period.
Local convenience stores are capitalizing on the boost in customers by launching their own private-label brands to provide a low-cost alternative to name brands. The stores also have changed up their merchandise mix to include more non-food items in addition to the beverages, cigarettes and instant food items.
However, the increasing number of convenience stores has begun to saturate the market. Retailers now experience stronger competition from each other, often with stores on opposite sides of the street vying for the same customers.
