[Edaily Han Jeon-jin Reporter] The convenience store industry is ramping up competition with so-called “exclusive products” available only at specific chains. Even for the same type of snack, the flavors available vary depending on which convenience store you visit, and it’s not uncommon for consumers to check inventory via an app to get their hands on trending items. As store networks become denser and it grows harder to differentiate based on location alone, products unavailable elsewhere have become a new competitive tool.

◇“Sold Only Here”… Hit Products Varying by Convenience Store

According to industry sources on the 3rd, four major convenience store chains—CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, and E-MART Co., Ltd.—are successively launching “exclusive products” sold only at their respective stores. They are expanding their scope beyond their own in-house products—such as boxed lunches, ready-to-eat meals, and desserts—to include products utilizing external intellectual property (IP). There is also a growing trend of partnering with food manufacturers to introduce new products under the same brand but with different flavors at each convenience store chain.

A recent prime example is the “Minumsa Bread,” which GS Holdings launched on the 21st of last month in collaboration with Minumsa Publishing. This product, which randomly includes one of 20 different bookmarks featuring covers from the “World Literature Collection” and poetry anthologies, has sold 300,000 units to date and ranked first and second in GS25’s bread sales. As its popularity soared, orders were limited to one per store, and consumers began lining up at opening time after checking inventory via the app—a phenomenon known as “open-run.”

Other convenience stores are also stepping up their efforts to create “their own hit products.” CU’s unique instant noodle line, “Cheat Key,” has sold a cumulative total of 400,000 units since its launch last June. 7-Eleven has sold a cumulative total of 3 million units of regional specialty ramen from overseas, such as “Tokushima Ramen,” which features local cuisine from a small Japanese city developed in collaboration with an airline. E-MART Co., Ltd. is also expanding its lineup of exclusive products through IP collaborations, including the release of 12 food items developed in partnership with the game “Lineage Classic.”

This competition is also spilling over into food manufacturers’ new product strategies. Nongshim(004370)launched four new varieties of potato chips last month, supplying the “Salty Butter” flavor to CU, the “Spicy Carbonara” flavor to GS Holdings, the “Butter Garlic Shrimp” flavor to 7-Eleven, and the “Cream Cheese Sausage” flavor to E-MART Co., Ltd. They also held a “convenience store stamp rally” event, where participants visited each convenience store to purchase products and verify their purchases. LOTTE WELLFOOD(280360)also introduced three varieties of the “Kkokkalcorn Night Market Series” with different flavors at CU, GS25, and 7-Eleven, respectively.

◇With 50,000 stores reaching saturation and app competition heating up… Why companies are focusing on “exclusive” offerings

The reason manufacturers are creating products specific to individual convenience store chains is that the distribution influence of convenience stores has grown significantly. According to market research firm Nielsen IQ (NIQ) Korea, convenience stores accounted for 36.4% of domestic snack retail sales in the first half of this year—the highest share among major retail channels. From the manufacturers’ perspective, this has created a strong incentive to develop exclusive products tailored to each convenience store chain.

Underlying this product competition are the limitations of growth driven solely by store expansion. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the four major convenience store chains operated a total of 53,266 stores at the end of last year—a decrease of 1,586 from the 54,852 stores recorded in the same period the previous year. This marks the first time the number of stores has declined since 2020, when the Ministry began tracking the figures for these four companies. With more than 50,000 stores already operating nationwide, enhancing the competitiveness of existing stores has become more important than opening new ones.

Competition among the companies’ mobile apps is also intertwined with the expansion of exclusive products. As more consumers check inventory or place pre-orders to purchase trending items, the apps have become a channel that drives foot traffic to stores. According to a survey of 1,000 convenience store users conducted by OpenSurvey last February, the most frequently used app feature was checking inventory (46.4%), and the usage rates for inventory checks and pre-orders increased by 7.6 percentage points and 9.2 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous year. This means that exclusive products are serving as a means to retain customers not only in physical stores but also through the app.

The focus of convenience store competition is now shifting from “a place people go because it’s right around the corner” to “a place people seek out because it carries the products they want.” An industry official stated, “With the number of stores already at saturation point, there are limits to how much competitiveness can be enhanced simply by opening new locations,” adding, “Going forward, a company’s competitiveness will hinge on how consistently it can identify products unavailable through other channels and translate that into actual store visits and purchases.”