7-Eleven South China wins Retail Asia Awards for ready-to-eat shopping enhancement

It has implemented a three-phase strategy in addressing issues in its RTE shopping experience.

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven South China took home the In-store Customer Experience of the Year - China category win at the prestigious Retail Asia Awards 2024 for improving its ready-to-eat (RTE) shopping experience through digitisation in three phases.

The initiative comes as its RTE category accounts for a high proportion of its total sales, amongst which the non-barcode RTE items account for total sales. The chain has been faced with a pain point of not having a smooth shopping experience for RTE ordering in stores, especially for non-barcode items, as well as having limited payment methods.

The first phase in its attempt to address this issue involves working on both the offline and online procedure of RTE ordering. For offline, customers are going to order in front of the hot food counter, then receive a slip with a QR code containing their orders. During the online procedure, members can order through the WeChat Mini-Programme in advance, then receive a pickup code.

For the second phase, it is going to introduce the QR code with an aggregation of each ordering details, so customers can scan the code to capture all articles ordered at once. It is also going to develop multiple payment methods catering to the mainstream of mobile payment. At last, it is going to generate digital receipts instead of physical slips for easier tracking.

For the last phase, customers are now able to pay via the WeChat Mini-Program in advance, so they can arrive in the store to simply pick up the goods. When customers arrive at stores to collect goods, they can scan the pickup code to confirm and complete the deal.

It helps customers to cope with the daily customer peak period and allows them to click a single article, as well as a combination of several articles which are quick and convenient. 7-Eleven South China also enables them to save over 60% of the time compared to their previous process, leading to a more enjoyable shopping experience.

Retail Asia Awards honours companies that have recently launched innovative retail projects or initiatives, as well as industry leaders that have propelled their respective brands to maintain a competitive edge.

The Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's exceptional products or initiatives in the Retail industry, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].