The "senior mobile convenience store" that BGF Retail has operated since early this year is serving as a channel for residents in food desert areas to purchase daily necessities. A food desert refers to rural and mountainous areas where it is difficult to obtain fresh ingredients due to a lack of large distribution facilities.
BGF Retail analyzed the most recent five rounds of operations for the senior mobile convenience store and found that demand for daily necessities was particularly high compared with regular stores.
Toilet paper recorded the highest share of sales at 25.9% of total sales. Compared with the average sales share across all CU stores (0.3%), it is about 96 times (9,502%) higher.
Detergent was 58 times (5,728%), over-the-counter hygiene items 36 times (3,525%), snacks 29 times (2,866%), instant coffee powder 22 times (2,192%), and instant noodles in cups or bowls 19 times (1,826%), all posting higher sales shares than regular stores.
BGF Retail is adjusting the senior mobile convenience store's product mix based on this purchasing data. It has increased displays of high-demand items such as tissues, snacks, instant coffee powder, and instant noodles in containers, and strengthened promotions such as "buy one, get one" on rolled toilet paper and cup noodle bundles.
It added items with strong demand among senior customers, such as socks and adult diapers, and expanded kitchen supplies including plastic wrap, sanitary gloves, scrubbers, and parchment paper, as well as bakery items such as sweet red bean buns, cream buns, and castella.
Sales increased after bolstering the product lineup. In the fourth and fifth dispatch locations, bakery sales rose about 6 times (581.3%) from the previous rounds, cooking oil 5 times (437.1%), and household goods 3 times (240.5%).
BGF Retail has operated the senior mobile convenience store project since Jan., using "CU Ieum Store," a senior convenience store created in collaboration with senior job placement institutions nationwide, as a hub to directly visit food desert areas where it is difficult to buy food and daily necessities.