The major Myeongdong shopping district in central Seoul is less crowded than usual amid growing fears over the spread of the new coronavirus on Feb. 1, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Consumers are resorting to online shopping to purchase everyday goods as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to expand worldwide.
Coupang Inc., one of South Korea’s major online shopping portals, announced on Sunday that its Rocket Fresh service, an early morning delivery service for fresh food, could be delayed by a maximum of two hours.
The announcement comes as consumers are rushing to buy everyday goods online instead of going outdoors, pushing the workload among a limited number of delivery personnel to its limit.
The Rocket Fresh service was back to normal on Monday.
“Despite securing additional stocks, incoming orders have exceeded our expectations, bringing us to make a preliminary announcement that there might be some delays in shipping,” said a source from Coupang.
Orders for Coupang’s Rocket Delivery service reached 3.3 million on January 28. The numbers were even higher during the weekend.
The situation was similar for Market Kurly, a local online platform for grocery shopping. The company closed early after a massive amount of orders for chilled food exceeded the company’s processing capacity.
Food deliveries also jumped in number. Delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, reported a spike in the number of orders incoming since January 28.
Normally, the number of orders drops after holidays, but the coronavirus outbreak has prompted many consumers to stay at home and order delivery food instead.
After a coronavirus patient was first reported during the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of orders between January 24 and 27 jumped by 60 percent compared to last year.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
