The concept of convenience stores had evolved in countries outside the United States along the same lines as it had evolved in the United States. Convenience stores served as a source of supplementary purchases of essential items that could be readily consumed by shoppers. The format established in the United States could be replicated in any part of the world.
In 1969, 7-11 opened its first store outside the United States, in Canada. It soon entered a new country every two to three years, by using the franchising route, even outside the United States. In an industry in which domestic player prevailed and proliferate in every country, 7-11 was making progress wherever it opens stores. It seemed to have understood the pulse of the customer in every foreign market better than the homegrown convenience stores.