Convenience Stores Become 'K-pop Landmarks'... GS25 Sees Idol Sales Surge 100-Fold

GS25 Emerges as ‘Idol Comeback Platform’

Releases Collaboration Merchandise Alongside Album Sales

Foreigners Account for 70% of Idol Album Sales

GS25, the convenience store operated by GS Retail, announced on July 22 that its cumulative sales of K-pop idol albums and collaboration products for this year have increased to a level roughly 100 times higher than its total annual sales in 2023, when the collaborations began.

GS25 entered the K-pop fandom market in 2023 by starting to sell idol albums. By leveraging its nationwide store network, core customer base in their teens and twenties, and its own application "Our Neighborhood GS," GS25 expanded its influence and established itself as a key sales channel where “open runs” by fans occur every comeback season as they look to purchase albums and exclusive items.

Provided by GS25.

Recently, GS25 has moved beyond just album sales and is expanding its strategy by introducing collaborative products and content that align with comeback schedules. The company releases merchandise that reflects the artists’ concepts, and holds events and produces content with direct participation from idol members, allowing fans to experience the group’s universe at the convenience store.

One notable example is last month’s collaboration with BOYNEXTDOOR. GS25 exclusively sold the group’s first studio album “HOME” and simultaneously launched a variety of merchandise featuring group artwork. According to GS25, the bread containing a random member sticker topped its product category’s sales immediately after launch, and all 4,000 pre-order units of the bone conduction speaker candy featuring member voices sold out.

Self-produced content and purchase verification events featuring direct participation from the group members accumulated a total of 7 million views on GS25’s official social media channels. This month, two types of ice cream themed after the new song “Ice Cream” by Yeonjun of Tomorrow X Together (TXT) quickly sold out the initial 40,000 units, prompting the company to consider additional production. Last year, GS25 released a collaborative sandwich to coincide with NCT DREAM’s 5th studio album launch, with all 300,000 limited edition units sold.

A GS25 representative stated, “Through collaborations, we are raising product awareness and sales while also attracting foreign customers.” The representative added, “In fact, foreign customers accounted for more than 70% of idol album sales in the first half of this year.” The official continued, “Entertainment companies also benefit, as they can use our network of more than 18,000 outlets to expand offline touchpoints during new release periods,” explaining, “Recently, there have been increasing cases where agencies approaching their artists’ comebacks are proactively proposing collaborations to GS25.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.