사진 확대
On the 21st, the first day of the first application for consumer coupons for the recovery of people’s livelihoods, people flocked to administrative welfare centers and banks across the country, drawing attention to where the coupons were used. Various guidance has been made, but there are still many people who are confused.
Consumption coupons can be used not only in restaurant franchises, but also in various places such as convenience stores and household goods stores. However, many consumers are curious about which stores can actually be used due to limited usage. Even in the same business, it differs depending on how the store is operated by brand, so whether or not to use it varies.
According to the industry, the coupon can be used at small business merchants and general stores with annual sales of less than 3 billion won, excluding large discount stores, department stores, and entertainment establishments. Restaurant franchisees are considered as representative places to use. However, even for the same brand, direct management stores are not applicable, and affiliated stores are also only available in places with annual sales of less than 3 billion won.
Representatively, most chicken franchise stores such as BBQ, bhc, and Kyochon Chicken can be used. This is because the proportion of these three franchises easily exceeds 90%. Even the same coffee franchise is difficult to use at Starbucks, a direct store, but it is generally available at Mega Coffee, which has many franchisees.
Especially in the hamburger franchise business, there are mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. Consumption coupons are mostly available at Mom’s Touch, which has a 99% franchise rate. Lotteria also has much more places where the percentage of franchisees can be used at 90%. On the other hand, companies with low franchise ratios (23% Burger King, 15% McDonald’s, 8% KFC) are restricted from using them in most stores.
Some services of delivery applications can also use consumer coupons for people’s livelihood recovery. Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok, decided to support the increase in sales of restaurant business owners by increasing the accessibility of the “meet and pay” function, which allows them to use consumer coupons for people’s livelihood recovery even when ordering delivery. Consumers can use consumption coupons when they meet delivery drivers and pay face-to-face using the affiliate store’s own terminal using the “meet and pay” function. Meeting and payment is a payment method that can be used to order by “store delivery” rather than a thrifty delivery or a single house delivery that Baemin takes charge of delivery.
It can also be used in small and medium-sized self-employed stores. Park (40), who runs an Italian restaurant in Eulji-ro, Seoul, said, “The economy has been difficult for several years, but I hope that consumption coupons will help,” adding, “There are no signs in the restaurant, but we are going to put a sticker on the door.”
Convenience stores are considered as representative consumption coupons because most of them are in the form of affiliated stores. However, it cannot be used in large supermarkets or corporate supermarkets (SSM). Daiso’s use of consumption coupons depends on its direct management and affiliated stores. It should be noted that only 30% of all stores can use consumption coupons. As of the end of last year, Daiso’s total number of stores was 1576. Among them, there are only 483 franchises (30.6%). An official from Daiso said, “We are announcing stores where consumption coupons are available through our homepage.”
The government initially tried to include food and materials marts in consideration of the accessibility of residents in non-metropolitan areas, but the Federation of Small Businesses and the National Merchants Association set a sales cap (less than 3 billion won per year) due to opposition.
Native fashion companies, which have recently performed poorly, are also expressing their expectations for consumer coupons that will help people’s livelihoods recover. K2 will hold a special promotion “People’s Life Recovery Event” to ease the burden of prices in the summer. Until August 17, K2 stores nationwide will offer discounts of up to 105,000 won depending on the purchase amount. Other fashion companies can also use consumption coupons at street stores. Crocodile Lady and Chatren of the fashion group Hyungji and Castelbajak and Esquire, affiliates of Hyungji, have more than 1,500 dealerships nationwide.
In the case of beauty companies, some CJ Olive Young stores and AmorePacific’s Aritaum stores are included in the consumption coupon. CJ Olive Young has more than 200 franchises (16 percent of all stores) nationwide. In Seoul, you can also use consumption coupons where you can pay for Seoul Pay. More than 340 Aritaum franchisees of AmorePacific also use consumer coupons for people’s livelihood recovery.
The industry plans to prevent confusion by actively attaching promotional materials for stores that can be used in the future. The same method was used for emergency disaster support funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Reporter Lee Hyoseok / Reporter Park Hongjoo / Reporter Jung Seulgi]