[Edaily Reporter KYUNG GYEYOUNG ] “Why is it this price?” We answer the questions about prices that have crossed your mind at least once when you absentmindedly reached for your wallet. From department stores to convenience stores, we cover everything about everyday prices—whether it’s food or clothing. <Editor’s Note>

Have you ever stopped by a convenience store to buy a bottle of water, only to be lured by a “Buy One, Get One Free” deal and end up buying a drink you didn’t intend to? Even so, you often feel a sense of satisfaction thinking you saved money. Those “+1” promotional items at convenience stores are simply irresistible.

Convenience store promotional events are said to have begun around 2004. These promotions helped change consumers’ perception that “convenience stores are expensive,” which had been based on full-price sales. While the average convenience store carries around 2,500 items, “+1” promotional items reportedly account for about 30–70% of the total. This has made them just as price-competitive as large supermarkets.

Who covers the cost of the “+1” promotions? It is shared between the convenience store chains—such as CU, GS25, and 7-Eleven—and their product suppliers. The convenience store headquarters select product categories based on their own criteria and then determine the promotional items through discussions with suppliers. Selection criteria include the season, sales performance, consumer demand, and the effectiveness of past promotions. For example, in the summer, they feature beverages, ice cream, and insect repellents as promotional items, while in the winter, they highlight beverages from heated display cases. They also run giveaway promotions to publicize the launch of new products.

Participating in these giveaways is reportedly not a loss for suppliers either. This is because the impact on sales is significant—sales of promotional items in convenience stores typically outpace those of non-promotional items by an average of about 60%.

Convenience store owners see their revenue increase by the equivalent of a “+1” without incurring any additional costs. This is why customers don’t need to feel guilty about taking the free items. It’s a win-win situation for the corporate headquarters, suppliers, and store owners alike.

The reason consumers have come to seek out “+1” offers is the service that allows them to store free gifts and pick them up whenever they want. Following GS Holdings’ 2011 launch of the industry’s first promotional item storage feature in its “My Fridge” app (now “Our Neighborhood GS”), CU and 7-Eleven also added storage functions to their respective “Pocket CU” and “7-Eleven” apps. Starting in 2020, CU enhanced convenience by allowing even non-members to receive “Keeping Coupons” for storing items simply by providing their phone number.

According to GS Retail(007070), the operator of GS25, the cumulative number of items stored via the “Store Giveaways” feature in the “Our Neighborhood GS” app has exceeded 150 million. As of last year, the most frequently stored item was “Eolbaksha” (500 mL), and the majority of items were everyday beverages such as “Pepsi Zero Lime,” “Jeju Samdasu,” “Coffee Milk,” and “Clear Spring Water.”

CU has issued a cumulative total of 24 million “Keeping” coupons. At 7-Eleven, the usage rate of the “Seven Sook” storage feature within the app reached 75% as of July, indicating widespread consumer adoption.

As the service for saving promotional items has become widespread, “+1” promotions are also evolving. CU introduced a “3+2” promotion in 2021, reflecting the growing demand for bulk purchases as convenience stores have established themselves as major consumption channels. CU runs “3+2” promotions on an average of 5% of its total promotional items.

The proportion of “+1” promotional items in convenience stores is also changing. Looking at the breakdown of promotional items at GS25, in 2023, “1+1” accounted for 26%, “2+1” for 68%, and other free gifts for 6%; by 2025, these figures shifted to “1+1” at 34%, “2+1” at 51%, and other free gifts at 15%, showing an increase in the proportion of “1+1” promotions. This shift is said to be in response to the “frugal spending” trend that has emerged amid high inflation.

The “+1” promotions, which changed the perception of convenience stores as “expensive” 20 years ago, have now evolved into in-app “storage” features and “M+N” bulk bundles, helping to open consumers’ wallets during this economic downturn.