High-End Handbags at Convenient Locations

December 19th 2011
NACSonline

7-Eleven stores in Korea are planning to sell luxury merchandise, like Gucci handbags, for a limited time following a successful trial period.

NEW YORK – 7-Eleven stores in Korea are raising the stakes on impulse purchasing — so much so that a customer could purchase a carton of milk and a high-end Gucci handbag in one shopping trip.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 7-Eleven is planning to offer luxury merchandise for a limited period after a successful trial period during the September Korean thanksgiving holiday, in which the convenience retailer sold eight Gucci product lines. Shoppers were able to order the products from catalogues inside the store.

Although it’s undetermined which luxury brand the chain will feature, the “tactic reflects an increasing desire” by retailers to tap into the strong consumer demand for high-end products in the Korean market, writes the newspaper. In Korea, the luxury goods market is one of the strongest sectors of the country’s economy.

“Having spotted a trend that the public are embracing more luxury goods than ever before, we wanted to make them more easily accessible,” Cho Yun-jung, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven (Korea), told the newspaper.

7-Eleven sold 62 Gucci items during the September trial period, worth 58 million won ($50,000). Sales were strongest the city of Daegu, which has fewer luxury brand shops than Seoul.