Motorbikes for food delivery are parked along a street in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — With increasing food delivery commissions resulting from skyrocketing demand in the pandemic era, consumers are beginning to split up delivery fees.
In January, most delivery companies raised delivery commissions by 500 to 1,000 won (US$0.42-0.83).
The default delivery fee, which stood at around 3,300 won last year, jumped to 4,400 won, rising by 30 percent in a single year.
In response, online communities are increasingly sharing their experiences of splitting up delivery charges, particularly among apartments or individuals living alone.
A customer will post on a mobile messenger or an online residential community that he/she will order food delivery at a certain time, asking others to make food orders if they’d like.
Then, a representative will order all of the food at once and split the delivery bill among participants.
When the delivery person arrives at a certain location inside an apartment complex, those who have made orders can come to pick up their own food.
This is a method frequently used by students living in college dormitories to save on delivery bills.
Delivery charges continue to spike alongside rising demand.
More than 19.4 trillion won was spent on South Korea’s big 3 food delivery services including Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo between January and October of last year, which was 3.5 times larger than in 2019, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, according to mobile app tracker Wiseapp.
In response, the government is considering a new policy that will require all delivery platforms to make their delivery commissions public starting in February, believing that higher delivery commissions are one of the major causes of the rising cost of restaurant food.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
