Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/10
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Beyond merely buying snacks, customers in Taiwanese convenience stores can grab a cup of joe, book train or concert tickets, collect online purchases, pay utility bills, send out laundry, manage bank accounts, return library books or even exchange for the local currency.

After more and more cyclists started to ride bicycles around the island, some convenience stores at key locations have set up special zones for cyclists. 7-Eleven and Family Mart, the top two convenience store chains, have started to provide NT dollar to Chinese yuan exchange services for Chinese visitors in three stores respectively.

That might partly explain why Taiwan has so many convenience stores, probably the highest concentration in the Asia-Pacific or in the world, even more than Japan.