Shoppers in South Korea spend little more than 6,000 won ($4.40) at a time at convenience stores, but their monthly tab comes to nearly 100,000 won per person. Those small, frequent purchases pushed combined spending at the country's four major convenience store chains past 3.6 trillion won last month, a record high.
3.66 Trillion Won in One Month: A Record for Convenience Stores
Estimated card spending at GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and emart24 totaled 3.6585 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in August, according to a sample analysis of credit and debit card data released on the 8th by market research firm WiseApp Retail.
The figure topped the previous record of 3.5522 trillion won, set in August 2024, by 106.3 billion won. Compared with August 2023, three years earlier, spending rose about 11%.
GS25 led the field. Indexing its estimated spending at 100, CU followed closely at 96.1, while 7-Eleven stood at 47.1 and emart24 at 22.0, concentrating spending in the top two brands.
The data also showed a clear pattern of small, repeated purchases rather than large single transactions. An estimated 39.02 million people, excluding duplicates, made purchases at the four chains last month. Each visited a convenience store an average of 15.2 times and spent a total of 93,834 won. Average spending per visit was 6,165 won.
Men accounted for 71.1% of spending, far more than the 28.9% share held by women.
Frequent 6,000-Won Stops, and Demand for Smaller Meals
As convenience store spending grows, smaller portion sizes have emerged as a new trend across the retail and food industries, with products sized to what shoppers actually need. Rising prices have made eating out more costly, and demand from one- and two-person households and from consumers watching their diets has driven a wave of products that cut both portion size and price.
CU rolled out a line of mini ready-to-eat meals last month aimed at "small meal" demand. Its inari sushi comes in packs of two, and its sandwiches in three palm-sized pieces. In a consumer survey CU conducted using artificial intelligence, more than half of respondents said they preferred mini meals because of concerns about portion size, calorie counts and leftover food. Preference was highest among those aged 25 to 29.
Prices are coming down as well. CU's two-piece Mini Original Inari Sushi, launched last month, sells for 1,900 won. That is less than half the 4,200 won charged for its existing four-piece tuna mayo version, and the price per piece falls to 950 won from 1,050 won.
GS25 in July introduced a chicken salad of 135 grams, roughly half the size of its existing 260-gram product. The price dropped to 2,900 won from 5,900 won. The chain also sells a 200-gram single-serving marinated meat product aimed at one- and two-person households.
Value No Longer Means More: Even Instant Rice Shrinks to 110 Grams
Buying small is spreading beyond convenience stores. CJ CheilJedang recently launched Hetbahn Soft Mini Rice at 110 grams, about half the size of its flagship 210-gram white rice bowl. In June, the company introduced 110-gram versions of its whole-grain farro rice and lentil brown rice.
Demand for smaller instant rice is climbing quickly. Nielsen data show that 130-gram bowls accounted for about 16% of the instant rice market in the first half of this year, up from around 9% in the first half of 2024.
Coffee has shrunk, too. Namyang Dairy Products last month launched two 200-milliliter versions of its French Cafe Devil's Temptation line, down from 250 milliliters. Priced at a recommended 900 to 990 won, the products drew orders of 120,000 packs within about three weeks, exhausting the initial production run.
Industry officials see the shift as a change in what counts as value for money. Buying as much as possible for the same amount of money once defined a good deal; now consumers are buying only what they will eat, at a lower price, to cut both spending and food waste.
WiseApp Retail's figures are estimates drawn from a sample of credit and debit card data, not actual sales. They exclude cash, bank transfers, gift certificates and payments made through partner channels, so they may differ from the sales figures each chain reports.
