[Anchor]
As record-breaking heatwaves continue, citizens' consumption habits are changing. People are utilizing delivery even for convenience stores just a few minutes' walk away, while beauty products designed to withstand the scorching heat are seeing a surge in sales.
Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the details.
[Reporter]
At 11 a.m., an alarm sounds at a convenience store in Seoul, signaling a delivery order.
[A delivery order has arrived.]
The ordered items are frozen pizza and iced coffee.
An employee gathers the items into a bag and hands them over to a delivery rider who arrives shortly after.
[Could you please check the last digits of the number?]
We asked how close the delivery destination was to the convenience store.
[It is about 300 meters away. (Do people use convenience store delivery often these days?) They order a lot. I'd say it accounts for about 10 to 20 percent of total sales.]
Even though it is only a few minutes' walk, with relentless heatwaves exceeding 35°C (95°F), customers are choosing delivery instead of stepping outside to their neighborhood convenience store.
Over the past week, the total delivery sales for this convenience store brand increased by 102 percent compared to the same period last year.
[Taeyoung Kim / GS Retail Manager: Amid the ongoing heatwave, a growing number of customers are conveniently purchasing various heat-relief items such as iced coffee, iced drinks, and ice cream via delivery from home...] (Photo: Yonhap News)
To survive the intense heat, people formed long lines in front of a promotional pop-up store featuring so-called "survival beauty" products.
Sales of products designed to prevent makeup from melting in sweat surged by over 860 percent compared to the same period last year, and search volumes for cooling sprays that lower skin temperature increased by 160 percent.
[Yubin Kim / Serving in the Military: My duty is a gunner, and since I work a lot in hot places, having a product that cools things down when sprayed is really convenient. So I decided to buy one today.]
As the heat persists even at night, sales of melatonin products that aid sleep have also increased by over 100 percent compared to the first half of the year.
With extreme heatwaves becoming increasingly frequent, experts forecast that the market for so-called "survival items" to escape the heat will continue to grow every year.
Reported by Shin Jin-soo | Video by Kim Yun-sung | VJ: Jeong Han-wook | Graphics by Kim Min-young
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