Korean C-Stores Cater to Customers Flying Solo

Convenience stores stand to benefit from the younger and single population.

October 03, 2016

SEOUL, Korea – Single households in Korea, an ongoing trend reported in the Korea Times, is leading the way for more retailers and restaurants to cater to this growing demographic.

“Chaeseondang, a shabu-shabu (hot pot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water) restaurant at Lotte Department Store, at Seoul Station, was crowded with ‘honbap’ (eat-alone) guests during a recent lunchtime. … Bars are also remodeled to suit ‘honsul’ (drink-alone) clients and movie houses rearrange facilities for ‘honyeong’ (watch-alone) customers,” writes the news source.

More people in Korea are getting married later than before or not marrying at all, which has also helped increase the number of single households. The news source notes that in 1990, men married around age 27, while women married at 24. Today, the average ages have risen to about 33 years old for men and 30 years old for women. 

“The single tribe in their 20s and 30s, particularly those armed with economic means, have become quite willing to loosen their purse strings for their well-being, leading to a new coinage, ‘solo economy,’ in reference to their influence on the economy,” writes the news source.

According to Statistics Korea, single households have 1 million won ($908 U.S. dollars) in additional disposable monthly income, and of that, will spend about 776,000 won ($704 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, households with two or more members averaged spending about 71% of their disposable income, “hitting the lowest level since 2003 when the national statistical office began to collect related figures,” notes the news source.

"Given the changes in social structure toward an increasing number of people who live alone, it is more than natural for them to do many other things by themselves," Professor Kim Sang-hak of Hanyang University told the Korea Times. "Young people today tend to feel it burdensome to ask for others' time and to spend money to do things together and even show some resistance against collectivism of some sorts."

Industry experts cite three sectors as the biggest beneficiaries of the rapidly growing solo economy: convenience stores, consumer electronics and the pet industry.

"From now on, lunchboxes at convenience stores will become far better in quality and more expensive while consumer appliances will get far smaller in size but more convenient," an expert told the news source. 

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