Taiwan convenience stores up retailing efforts

2015-03-24

The operators of convenience stores across Taiwan are ramping up online and offline retailing strategies to provide additional services and achieve greater market penetration.

“As handheld mobile devices grow in popularity, the boundary between brick-and-mortar shops and online stores is breaking down,” FamilyMart Co. Ltd. Chairman Pan Chin-ting said March 23. “Convenience store customers now desire integrated services allowing more flexible shopping.”

FamilyMart’s 2,814 outlets make it the No. 2 player in the Taiwan convenience store market behind the 5,040 7-Elevens operated by President Chain Store Corp. Hi-Life and OK Mart chains trail with 1,296 and 880 shops, respectively.

According to Pan, customers will soon be able to use their smartphones to order products such as drinks and meals from a convenience store and arrange direct delivery. “Upon entering an outlet, they also receive instant handset notifications of promotional offers and sale items,” he said.

“Similar services are already provided by global retail businesses including Macy’s Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the U.S., as well as Seven and I Holdings Co. Ltd. in Japan.”

Echoing Pan’s remarks, Liu Hung-cheng, head of 7net, the Internet shopping portal for 7-Eleven, said a company’s online business must complement its storefront activities.

“The time for competition is over,” Liu said. “The two business types must cooperate to create a win-win situation for both the company and customers.”

According to Liu, PCSC launched the iCash stored-value card in 2004 to help shorten transaction time at 7-Eleven stores. But the smart card evolved as a means of online payment at 7net six years later, offering buyers a more effective shopping experience.

Liu and Pan are equally bullish on the potential for rapid market expansion on the back of new developments in consumer electronics.
New retail services will definitely inject fresh energy into the local sector and benefit customers in an innovative manner, they added.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228598&CtNode=413)