Those city dwellers who think they might be addicted to shopping at conveniences stores may be on to something.
The extent to which consumers shop at these stores to stock up on daily "necessities" was measured in a survey released last week.
Conducted by online market research firm InsightXplorer (
"This indicates that Taiwanese consumers tend to spend small amounts each time but the frequency of using the service is quite high," the report said.
The nation's five major convenience store chains operate more than 8,000 outlets. But each store serves less than 3,000 customers on average, mirroring the competitive situation in Japan.
Drinks, cooked food and snacks are rated the most popular commodities at convenience stores. Consumers have also developed the habit of using other integrated services such as bill payments (83.3 percent), collecting goods bought on the Internet (50 percent) and using automated teller machines inside the outlets (44.6 percent), the survey showed.
However, to boost margins squeezed by fierce competition, operators will have to develop new models to expand their customer base, the report suggested.
"Compared with mature applications in Japan and South Korea, where convenience stores have integrated telecommunications or online music services, we believe there is more the Taiwanese market can do to evolve," said Jason Chiang (江義宇), InsightXplorer's chief executive officer.
Hi-Life International Co (萊爾富), the nation's third-largest convenience store operator, could be the first to launch these services.
Among its 1,165 outlets nationwide, 95 percent are equipped with interactive kiosks, dubbed Life-ET, allowing consumers to redeem credit card bonus points for Hi-Life goods or download ring tones and images for certain mobile phones, said Ryan Chen (陳培胤), a Hi-Life public relations spokesman.
Hi-Life expects to work with gas stations this month, enabling members of the latter to exchange bonus points at the kiosks for consumer items. It also plans to integrate film-ticketing services in the near future, Chen added.
Despite Hi-Life's interactive approach, President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), which runs the world's third-largest 7-Eleven franchise, is still evaluating the possibility of establishing kiosks, considering the high costs that would be incurred.
Currently, President Chain is focusing on strengthening pre-paid services, digital finances and marketing to lure shoppers into spending more in their stores.
"We've had electronic products, such as iPod Shuffles and Lunar New Year feasts sold through the advance-booking system, which has had a warm reaction. That shows pricey commodities can also be sold at convenience stores," said Vivien Hsu (徐崇嵐), a President Chain public relations official.
The InsightXplorer survey interviewed 312 regular Internet users between Nov. 14 and Nov. 18 last year.
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