Lighting Up the Night, Providing Convenience for Customers – A Visit to 24-Hour Convenience Store Clerks

At 11 PM on September 15, after placing the last box of cookies on the shelf, Li Hong walked around the shelf and stood at the cash register, officially starting her work for the day.

"Our store operates in three shifts, with three days off each month," said Li Hong, a 22-year-old employee at a 24-hour convenience store in Yongchuan District, Chongqing, who has been working there for just six months. At 18, she dropped out of school and left her hometown in Sanhe Town, Bishan, to work elsewhere. Without any specialized skills, she could only take odd jobs. "This is my third job, and I earn about 3,000 yuan a month," she said with a smile as she handed a receipt and change to a customer.

From a barren mountain village to a bustling city, Li Hong and her colleagues provide convenience to late-night customers in the sleepless metropolis, lighting up their nights.

Hard Work and the Satisfaction of Being Needed

"Every day follows the same routine, and sometimes we encounter difficulties," said Xiao Chen, a clerk at Shanhua Convenience Store in Beicang Cultural and Creative Park, Jiangbei District, Chongqing. Just under 20 years old, he left his rural home to work in the city and has been at the store for a year. Xiao Chen told reporters that he once encountered a thief stealing items from the store. "Although the loss wasn't much, it was a blow to me," he said. Since then, he has been extra vigilant, watching every customer who enters, sometimes to the point of surprising them. Because the store is near the Guanyin Bridge business district's office buildings, he sees mostly white-collar workers from those offices during his night shifts.

"When I see the satisfaction on customers' faces after they find what they need, I feel that even though my job may not be glamorous and is hard, I can still help them in this way," Xiao Chen said, a bit shyly. He feels a sense of being needed, and that feeling is also a kind of satisfaction for him.

Tang Juan, a native of Yongchuan District, Chongqing, is a white-collar worker at a company in the business district, working in an office building next to Beicang. She often works late and, whenever she passes by the convenience store where Xiao Chen works, she goes in to buy a bottle of soda. "It feels heavy in my hand, and I feel a sense of security; walking alone at night doesn't seem as scary," Tang Juan said. For her, this 24-hour convenience store is the brightest and most comforting place in the early morning.

Late-Night Part-Time Work and Fighting Sleep

At 5 PM on September 14, a convenience store in Chongqing University Town began to see customers. "We don't have many customers during the day, but more at night," said Xiao Wang, an employee at the store. Xiao Wang is a sophomore at a nearby university, from a rural area with financial difficulties. She works part-time on weekends and holidays, with night shifts from 8 PM to 6 or 7 AM, earning 15 yuan per hour.

By 8 PM, the store became lively, with the door chime ringing every two or three minutes as customers entered. Xiao Wang shuttled between the shelves and the checkout counter. "During holidays, there are many more people," she told reporters. By 8 PM that evening, the store's cooked foods like skewers, oden, and fried items had already sold out.

Because the night shift is long, it's inevitable to fight sleep. "When I'm sleepy, I usually tidy the shelves, and if I really can't stay awake, I go to the break room for a quick nap," she said. The long hours of standing have been hard for Xiao Wang to get used to.

Since the store is in University Town, most customers are nearby college students. "Sometimes, when it's too late for students to return to their dorms, they come to our store," Xiao Wang said. The most memorable customer was a student who came at 4 AM; unable to get into the school, he spent the night memorizing vocabulary in the store. For customers, this is the only place with lights on at night, and for Xiao Wang, the late-night customers are also a form of companionship.

High Turnover Among Frontline Staff

With the development of the night economy, more and more convenience stores are lighting up for customers. Xiao Wang in University Town said she has seen four or five Lawson stores there. In addition to chain 24-hour convenience stores like Lawson and 7-Eleven, many privately-owned convenience stores have also extended their hours until early morning, and the lights at dawn are increasing.

As the number of convenience stores grows, the demand for store clerks also rises. However, during interviews, reporters found that the turnover rate among frontline convenience store staff is high, and personnel mobility is significant. One store manager interviewed said, "Our job postings have hardly ever been taken down. It's common for people to leave after a year, and the longest stay is two or three years. A few even leave after just a few months on the job."

Li Hong is the replacement for a previous clerk who left after just one year. Li Hong heard that the clerk left for three reasons: First, low wages – salaries range from 2,000 to 3,000 yuan, or at most 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, but working hours are long; Second, limited promotion opportunities – from clerk to assistant store manager to store manager, and for a typical franchise store, becoming store manager is the ceiling unless you have capital to become a franchisee; Third, high work pressure – especially on night shifts, staying up all night is exhausting, and there's worry about what might happen at night..." During interviews, reporters found that most convenience store employees work more than 8 hours a day, have few days off per month, and some lack social insurance.

Labor law expert Zhou Bin said that the high turnover rate among convenience store clerks is a common social issue, and it's important to pay attention to whether there are labor rights violations. If there are, enforcement of the Labor Law and Labor Contract Law must be strengthened, especially regarding illegal working hours and lack of social insurance.

Additionally, industry insiders believe that to retain employees, convenience store companies need to strengthen humanistic care, focus on employee growth, improve communication channels, enhance incentive and reward systems, maintain harmonious labor relations, and retain employees through emotional connection.

Source: China News Service

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