Cold Snap Sends Winter Product Sales Soaring at Korean Convenience Stores

A sharp drop in temperatures has triggered a surge in demand for cold-weather goods and hot snacks at South Korean convenience stores, giving major retailers an early October boost across several seasonal product categories.

Industry data for the first seven days of October showed that customers moved quickly to buy items ranging from disposable hand warmers and tights to fish cakes, baked sweet potatoes and traditional tea. The comparison with the previous week underlined how rapidly shopping patterns shifted as cooler weather arrived.

At GS25, the convenience-store chain operated by GS Retail, sales of disposable hand warmers increased by more than eleven times from the preceding week. Sales of tights rose by a similarly large margin, indicating that demand extended beyond small warming accessories to clothing intended to provide extra protection from the cold.

The change was also visible in food and beverage purchases. GS25 sales of instant fish cakes jumped 653 percent, while baked sweet potato sales rose 132 percent. Traditional tea sales increased 50.2 percent. Together, the figures show customers turning both to practical cold-weather products and to warm foods commonly associated with the colder months.

CU, a rival chain operated by BGF Retail, recorded a 400 percent rise in sales of disposable hand warmers over the same period. The increase across two of the country’s best-known convenience-store brands suggests that the shift was not confined to a single retailer or promotion.

Convenience stores are particularly exposed to short-term changes in weather because their broad networks and extended operating hours allow customers to make immediate, small purchases close to home, work or transit routes. The latest data illustrate how a sudden temperature change can quickly alter the mix of goods moving through those stores.

The reported increases are percentage changes from the previous week rather than total revenue figures, and the retailers did not disclose the number of units sold. Even so, the scale of the gains in several categories points to a clear seasonal response during the opening week of October.

An industry official said sales of winter snacks and cold-weather gear were climbing sharply as colder conditions set in. For GS Retail and BGF Retail, the early surge highlights the commercial importance of matching store inventories to abrupt weather shifts, particularly when demand for seasonal items can rise within days.