Convenience stores eye holiday delivery boom as more Koreans spend Chuseok alone

As convenience stores expand quick-commerce services that deliver orders within roughly an hour, the Chuseok holiday is emerging as a key sales period. Industry observers attribute the trend to the large number of restaurants and retail shops that close during the holiday, as well as a growing share of people spending it alone — a group dubbed "hon-chu-jok," or solo Chuseok celebrants.

According to retail industry data, delivery orders at GS25, the convenience store chain operated by GS Retail, rose 19.6 percent during last year's Chuseok holiday (Oct. 5–7) compared with the same period the previous month. Sales climbed even more sharply, with delivery revenue up 28.1 percent over the same comparison period.

Delivery orders were concentrated heavily on snacks and food items. Chips and crackers accounted for the largest share at 16.3 percent of total orders, followed by beverages (15.4 percent), ice cream (13.1 percent) and ramyun (7.4 percent). Ice cream sales surged 42.8 percent from the prior-month period, with chips and crackers (20.6 percent), beverages (19.7 percent) and ramyun (18.8 percent) also posting strong gains. Pickup orders — where customers collect items directly at the store — rose 22.1 percent over the same period.

Other major convenience store chains also saw delivery demand climb above normal levels during last year's Chuseok holiday. Seven-Eleven posted a 20 percent increase in delivery sales over the same period. Delivery sales of condiments such as sauces, pastes and cooking oil surged 493 percent, while shelf-stable ready-to-eat items including seaweed soup, beef bone broth and three-minute curry rose 42 percent. Bottled water and carbonated drinks were up 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Pickup sales also grew 11 percent.

CU's delivery sales rose 19.7 percent compared with the same period the previous month, with meal-replacement foods showing particularly strong growth. Burger products led the way with a 121.6 percent jump, followed by dosirak (79.5 percent), kimbap (67.4 percent), bread (65.6 percent) and sandwiches (55.6 percent). Pickup sales rose 24.9 percent. "During Chuseok, nearby restaurants and cafes were closed, so customers appear to have turned to convenience store delivery mainly to order food that could serve as a meal," a CU official said.

Demand for convenience store food — including dosirak and ready-to-eat meals — is also on the rise. According to CU, holiday dosirak sales during the three-day Chuseok and Lunar New Year periods rose 18.5 percent year-on-year in 2023, 20.8 percent in 2024 and 12.2 percent in 2025, marking three consecutive years of double-digit growth. Notably, 60.5 percent of last year's holiday dosirak sales came from areas where single-person households are concentrated, such as university districts, studio apartment neighborhoods and officetel complexes.

The rise in delivery, pickup and ready-to-eat sales reflects growing numbers of solo holiday celebrants, driven by high prices and an increase in single-person households. A Korea Research survey on holiday plans for this year's Chuseok found that 63 percent of respondents planned to meet family members they do not live with — down from 68 percent during last year's Chuseok and 70 percent during this year's Lunar New Year holiday. By age group, just 52 percent of those aged 18 to 29 and those in their 30s said they planned to see family. Among unmarried respondents, only 49 percent said they had plans to meet family living separately.

Meanwhile, quick-commerce services are establishing themselves as a new trend in the convenience store industry, driven by demand for fast delivery and convenience. Convenience stores are particularly well suited to rapid delivery compared with other retail channels, given their dense store networks. CU's quick-commerce sales in the first half of this year rose 123.1 percent from the same period a year earlier. GS25 (98.3 percent), Seven-Eleven (56 percent) and E-mart24 (198.7 percent) also posted sharp gains over the same period.