If you’ve been spending more money at convenience stores during the pandemic, you’re not alone. That’s not only a national trend, it’s a development that’s moving to a new level in at least one country in Asia.
In South Korea, sales at leading convenience stores are overtaking sales at major department stores.
The trend has been building, but the pandemic has accelerated the pace.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reports the country’s top three convenience store chains now make up nearly a third of all domestic retail sales in the country—edging ahead of the market share of the top three department stores.
By the end of the year, they could overtake grocery stores.
The Chosun Ilbo reports it’s not just the coronavirus that’s behind the trend, but also demographics.
Convenience stores tend to sell smaller portions than supermarkets, and the number of one and two-person households in South Korea is growing.
The stores also offer services from parcel delivery to insurance sales.
That variety of services has also been a factor in the growth of convenience stores in Japan where clients have been able to pay their utility and phone charges and other bills for decades.
Figures from 7-Eleven Japan show convenience stores have grown to dominate sales in that country.
As for the United States, convenience store sales set a record last year—topping $255 billion.
Last month the National Association of Convenience Stores reported the number of transactions declined but their value grew—what the industry calls a “bigger basket size” of purchases per visit.
