In this photo provided by BGF Retail, a drone delivers products from a CU convenience store in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, on July 1, 2022.
SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean convenience chains said Wednesday they plan to introduce limited drone delivery services in selected stores in leisure destinations, as competition to provide faster deliveries heats up.
BGF Retail, the operator of CU convenience stores, said Wednesday it will start offering drone deliveries from its store in the eastern county of Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, starting next week.
Drone delivers will be available only on Fridays and Saturdays to customers using a designated nearby camping facility. Products will be delivered within 10 minutes after purchases are made on a specially designed app.
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven also said it will open a store with a drone station in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, next week. Deliveries will initially be limited to customers using nearby lodging facilities.
In the case of GS25, South Korea’s second-largest convenience store chain, its operator GS Retail said it has no plans to commercialize drone deliveries in the near future due to safety issues and regulations.
Last month, the government announced plans to ease regulations related to drone usage and amend laws to provide grounds for commercial drone deliveries.
“Legislation is necessary to support the commercialization of drones, since there are a lot of unresolved issues related to safety and privacy,” a convenience store industry official said.
(Yonhap)
