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A record influx of foreign tourists into South Korea is giving convenience stores an unexpected boost. Sales to foreign customers are climbing anywhere from double digits to more than double, with items such as banana-flavored milk and Buldak spicy ramen becoming must-stop purchases for visitors. North American travelers are emerging as a new big-spending group.
Foreign Sales Jump at CU and GS25 as Visitors Surge
According to GS Retail, sales to North American customers at GS25 rose 130.9% in the first eight months of this year from a year earlier, the steepest increase among foreign customers by region.
North America accounted for about 30% of total foreign sales, the highest share on record. Greater China remains the largest at about 40%, but the gap between the two regions has narrowed to around 10 percentage points.
The trend is not limited to GS25. Industry data released on the 5th of last month showed that CU's sales to foreign customers rose 101.2% last year from the previous year, roughly doubling. Over the same period, GS25 rose 74.2%, 7-Eleven 60% and emart24 38%.
The main driver has been the sharp rise in foreign visitors themselves. The number of foreign tourists to South Korea grew to 19.84 million last year from 16.36 million in 2024. Unlike the past, when group tours concentrated their spending at duty-free shops, the rise in independent travelers has turned convenience stores into shopping venues where visitors can sample everyday Korean food firsthand, analysts said.
A retail sector report from Daishin Securities on the 12th of last month showed that convenience store sales to foreign customers rose more than 60% in the second quarter from a year earlier. Cumulative foreign arrivals through August this year reached 15.05 million, setting records almost daily.
Banana Milk and Buldak Are Staples: Liquor for North Americans, Dairy for Chinese Shoppers
What foreign customers actually buy is also drawing interest. So-called Korean convenience store foods, spread abroad through social media, dominate the top of the sales rankings.
At GS25, popular items among foreign customers included banana-flavored milk, Greek yogurt, cups of ice, seasoned boiled eggs, sesame ramen, Buldak spicy ramen and honey butter almonds. Many visitors also bought transit cards and mobile SIM cards at convenience stores immediately after arriving in the country.
Preferences differed by nationality. North American tourists bought large volumes of alcohol, including canned beer, wine and spirits, along with sports and energy drinks and sodas. Canned beer sales to North American customers were the highest among all foreign regions.
Visitors from Greater China showed strong demand for dairy products such as milk and fermented milk drinks, as well as noodles, bread and desserts and other ready-to-eat items. Among individual products, blueberry Greek yogurt overtook banana-flavored milk for the top spot in sales, while a Dubai-style chewy cookie ranked third. High cigarette consumption was common to both North American and Greater China customers.
At airport stores, travelers are stocking up on Korean food right up to departure. At convenience stores in Incheon International Airport, foreign tourists have been seen buying multiple units of banana-flavored milk — nicknamed "ddungba" for its round bottle — along with instant noodles, almonds and seaweed, and photographing fully stocked shelves.
Spending is also spreading geographically. Through last year, Greater China accounted for the largest share of GS25's foreign sales in Gangwon State, but North American sales surged 337.8% this year to take the top spot. The increase was most pronounced at east coast destinations including Goseong, Sokcho, Yangyang, Gangneung and Donghae. Spending by Greater China visitors was concentrated in major tourist areas and downtown districts such as Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Seoul and Busan.
Convenience Stores Become K-Food Showrooms, Adding AI Interpretation and English Signs
Convenience store operators are also treating foreign visitors as a distinct core customer group and stepping up their response.
CU has expanded an AI interpretation service supporting 38 languages to more than 70 stores in areas popular with foreign visitors, including Myeong-dong and Hongdae. Self-checkout machines at stores nationwide now offer English, Chinese and Japanese modes so foreign customers can pay on their own.
GS25 has added English to in-store promotional materials at about 1,000 locations with heavy foreign traffic this year. It also provides recipes using popular products and recommended ways to eat specific items. The company uses its own analytics tool for foreign customers to break down spending patterns by country, region and store, and applies the findings to merchandising and marketing.
Rising spending by foreign customers is also drawing attention for its effect on profitability. The Daishin Securities report on the 12th of last month noted that cigarettes account for about 36% of total convenience store sales, the largest single category, but carry relatively low margins. If foreign tourist spending expands into general merchandise such as beverages, snacks and daily necessities, the resulting shift in product mix could help improve profitability, the report said.
The convenience store gross profit margin stood in the 19% range in the second quarter. Combined operating profit at BGF Retail and GS Retail rose 49% in the first quarter and 22% in the second quarter this year.
With South Korea's domestic convenience store market approaching saturation, the fast-growing pool of foreign tourists is emerging as a new customer base. Once a place to pick up a few items during a trip, the convenience store itself is now expanding into one of the stops on a tour of the food and consumer culture currently popular in South Korea.
