Convenience stores see profit sliding as market gets more crowded

Per-store operating profit at convenience stores in South Korea fell in 2015 as the market became more crowded, government data showed Thursday.

An average per-store operating profit at franchised convenience stores stood at 18.6 million won ($16,523) in 2015, down 17 percent from a year ago, according to the data by the Statistics Korea.

The number of convenience stores, however, rose 12.7 percent on year to 29,628 at the end of 2015, the data showed. 

Convenience stores accounted for 16.4 percent of all franchised stores with combined annual revenue hitting 12.7 trillion won in 2015, up 12.4 percent from a year ago.

Per-store revenue at convenience stores fell 0.3 percent on year to 429.7 million won.

Excluding education services, there were a total of 181,000 franchised stores, up 8.4 percent from a year ago.

The franchised stores hired about 660,000 people at the end of 2015.

Their combined sales rose 17 percent on year to 50.3 trillion won and operating profit jumped 25.7 percent to 5 trillion won in 2015. (Yonhap)