CU launches beer subscription service

CU is launching a beer subscription service to target the increasing number of people enjoying imbibing alone and at home, the convenience store chain operator said Thursday.

BGF Retail, the firm behind the convenience store chain, has teamed up with beer subscription app service Dailyshot to roll out its service where a user can get three cans of popular beer products from a nearby CU store at 6,900 won ($6.10) per month.

CU is the first to launch such a service for beer in the convenience store industry, according to BGF Retail.

CU has the most outlets at 14,923 across the country, beating out rival GS25, according to data from Financial Supervisory Service this month.

Users can subscribe and choose the beer they want on the Dailyshot app, and pick up their order in a nearby CU store, according to CU.

Dailyshot is an information technology startup that has partnered with local pubs and bars to offer a monthly drink subscription service at 5,900 won. Under the service, a user can get a free welcome drink every time they visit one of the partner bars.

Amid the growing popularity of drinking alone or at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CU said it is witnessing growth in the sales of alcohol.

From March 1 to 16, the sales of beer in CU outlets increased by 35.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to CU.

CU said they came to introduce the new service to target customers in their 20s and 30s, as about 70 percent of Dailyshot users are aged 20 to 35.

“The peak season for beer is approaching, and we came to collaborate with an online platform the MZ generation enjoys using, and offer various products at reasonable prices,” a CU official said in a press release. “MZ generation” refers to millennials as well as Generation Z, which combined encompasses those born from the 1980s to the 2010s.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)