Apps contribute to sales growth at Korean convenience stores

[Source : CU]

South Korean convenience stores are strengthening app-based marketing to encourage young customers to visit and buy products online and offline as they are responding positively to new and convenient app functions such as product review, order, storage and pickup.

According to sources on Monday, the country’s top convenience store chain CU last year launched the industry’s first ‘inventory inquiry’ service that allows users to check the availability of a specific product at a nearby store in real time.

The inventory inquiry, which was the most popular function in the brand’s app dubbed Pocket CU, recorded a total of 32 million uses, or an average of 4 million uses per month, in the past eight months.

The brand’s premium whiskey sales campaign last month was also designed to enhance its app marketing. Whiskeys with a price tag of 3 million won ($2,420) per bottle were sold out within 30 seconds of the start of the event. Those whiskeys include Tamnavulin 1973 worth 3.3 million won, Glen Allachie 30 Years worth 2.3 million won and Benriach 21 Years worth 365,000 won. Customers can pick up a liquor at a nearby store on a designated date by booking the product they want through the “CU Bar,” a liquor reservation service available on the app.

‘My Own Refrigerator’ and E-verse [Sources : GS Retail, Shinsegae]

Another convenience store brand GS25 features a gift storage service called ‘My Own Refrigerator’ on its mobile app, Our Neighborhood GS. The convenient function allows customers to pick up their products received as gifts at a preferred date. The company started the product storage service in 2011 and filed a patent for the service.

About 44 percent of all users of My Own Refrigerator are in their teens and 20s. People in their 30s and 40s also account for 52 percent. Products that have been stored the most so far include Youus Yakult Grand, Vita 500 and CAFE25 Americano. The cumulative use of the storage service has surpassed 150 million and the company has raised the number of cumulative app members to 15 million thanks to the popularity of this service.

E-Mart 24 launched a mobile app, E-verse, in November of last year, which gives product coupons to users who play a game featuring E-Mart products.

This app exposes its own products to users through various games and stimulates them to visit the app often through continuous rewards. As a result, time spent in the app was 9 times higher compared to other convenience store apps and the collection rate of coupons paid was 5 times higher than regular coupons.