Singles drive Korea c-store boom

The increasing number of single-person households has been a major factor in the growing number of convenience stores in South Korea, according to nacsonline.com citing Gulf News Retail/Bloomberg reports.

Statistics Korea forecasts that roughly 33% of Korean households will be a single-person household by 2030.

Singles tend to go to convenience stores, estimated to reach 32,000, instead of buying from supermarkets and drug stores. Supermarkets sell goods in larger packages, drug stores are more into beauty products, while c-stores adapt more to what singles need.

“Single households can buy as much as they need at the closest convenience store without feeling restrained, wearing anything they’d like, 24 hours a day, and I think this is one of the factors helping convenience stores grow,” said Kim Chulsik, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute of East and West Studies.