Seven-Eleven Japan Co will start serving affordable coffee at its stores nationwide in an attempt to replicate the success McDonald's has achieved with a similar model.

The retailer said on its website that it will install self-service coffee machines at 15,000 stores nationwide by Aug 31. The machines are to be placed near the cash registers and will serve regular-size 150-milliliter cups of coffee for 100 yen. Larger-size cups will cost 150 yen. The drip brew will take about 45 seconds, the company said.

Meanwhile, Seven-Eleven president Ryuichi Isaka said that 40% of customers who visited pilot stores bought a coffee. He added that the largest market segment was women aged 30 to 50 who preferred drip coffee to canned coffee, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Isaka said the company aims to sell around 330 million cups per year, which corresponds to the number of cups that McDonald's sells. He also announced that the group is considering introducing the machines at Ito-Yokado and Denny's stores in Japan, as well as Seven-Eleven stores overseas, Sankei reported.

© Japan Today