Convenience stores ' competition for delivery services rises amid non - contact trendBy Kim Soo - yeon SEOUL , June 9 ( Yonhap ) -- Convenience store operators in South Korea are racing to beef up delivery services as a rise in the number of one - person households and the new coronavirus outbreak have raised demand for door - to - door services . Having an upper hand over major discount stores in terms of consumer accessibility , convenient stores are tapping delivery services as an additional sales channel amid the non - contact trend . BGF Retail Co . , which operates the convenience store chain CU , introduced its delivery service for the first time in the industry in April 2019 after partnering with food delivery app Yogiyo . Currently , about 5 , 000 CU outlets nationwide provide the service . This undated photo , provided by BGF Retail , shows a deliveryman and a staffer demonstrating the delivery service provided by the group ' s convenience store chain CU . ( PHOTO NOT FOR SALE ) ( Yonhap ) In March , BGF Retail also partnered with Naver , the operator of the country ' s No . 1 internet portal , to accelerate delivery services . In May , the number of consumers using its delivery services rose more than tenfold compared with the previous year , according to data provided by the company . In the March - May period , when the country ' s new virus cases spiked , the number of such deliveries jumped nearly 60 percent from a year earlier . " As more companies adopted remote working systems amid the COVID - 19 pandemic , people appeared to use our delivery service as they stayed at home longer , " said an official at BGF Retail . Non - face - to - face consumption has become a trend in South Korea , as the virus outbreak has prompted more people to use online shopping to avoid infection risks . A rise in the number of one - person households has also boosted demand for food purchases at convenience stores , as people can eat relatively good full meals at affordable prices . Households consisting of a single member totaled 5 . 85 million in 2018 , accounting for nearly 30 percent of all households in the country , according to the statistics agency . This undated photo , provided by GS Retail , shows a deliveryman carrying packages for delivery services provided by convenience store GS 25 . ( PHOTO NOT FOR SALE ) ( Yonhap ) Other major convenience store chains have been strengthening delivery services in the highly competitive market . In May , GS Retail Co . , which runs convenience store chain GS 25 , partnered with Kakao Corp . , the operator of the country ' s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk , to expand the delivery platform . Last year , the retail business arm of GS Group launched delivery service at around 10 outlets on the Yogiyo platform before starting to provide full services at around 1 , 200 stores across the nation in March . Smaller rivals 7 - Eleven and E - Mart 24 have jumped on the bandwagon to deliver food and daily necessities . " When I worked at home at the height of the pandemic , I ordered snacks several times . A delivery fee appears reasonable , considering I don ' t have to put on clothes and a facial mask and walk to a convenience store , " said a 31 - year - old man , surnamed Kang . sooyeon @ yna . co . kr ( END )