Citizens shop for vegetables at a discount supermarket in Seoul on June 15, 2022, amid high inflation. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Mini-packaged goods are selling well at large discount stores and the number of subscription coupon users is increasing for convenience stores as inflation woes persist.
Discount store chain Homeplus saw the share of mini-packaged fisheries products sold during the period from June 1 to 15 mark a 20-fold increase compared to January.
During this period, sales of mini-packaged livestock products and vegetables also jumped by 320 percent and 120 percent, respectively.
Homeplus attributed the strong sales of mini-packaged items to the increase in the number of single and two-person households and the increase in the number of consumers who want to reduce the burden of shopping amid sky-high inflation.
For convenience stores, subscription coupon services that allow users to get fixed-frequency discounts if they select the products they want and pay a monthly subscription fee are gaining popularity.
Convenience store chain CU saw the use of subscription coupons rise by 68.9 percent last month compared to a year ago.
Among such users, the share of those who purchased more than two subscription coupons rose to 27.1 percent last month from 15.1 percent in March, with the share of those who purchased more than three subscription coupons reaching 13.1 percent.
In the meantime, the e-commerce operator TMON saw the sales of the special category that sells returned or slightly damaged products at a lower price mark a threefold jump last month compared to the previous month.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
