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| Baedal Minjok delivery drivers fill a road in Seoul on Aug. 30, 2020. Korea Times file |
By Kim Jae-heun
Some restaurant owners are gearing up to boycott Baedal Minjok (Baemin) and Coupang Eats after the two companies raised delivery fees sharply, according to industry watchers Tuesday. In addition, a growing number of consumers are choosing not to have their food delivered because of soaring fees and opting instead to pick up their orders.
On Feb. 3, Coupang Eats adopted a new pricing system for single-order delivery services, and Baemin followed suit on March 22. They decided to charge commission fees of 6.8 percent and 9.8 percent of the food prices and force the restaurants to shoulder the delivery costs, ranging from 5,400 won ($4.36) to 6,000 won.
The restaurants then split the delivery fees with customers. If they want to increase profit, they can charge customers a bigger share of the delivery costs, which could result in losing clients.
"Baemin lists the names of restaurants on its app in order of low delivery prices. That means restaurant owners have to shoulder more delivery expenses to attract customers. This new pricing system for single-order delivery services only profits delivery firms. I am thinking of boycotting Baemin 1 and Coupang Eats," a 34-year-old restaurant owner surnamed Kim said. Baemin 1 is a one-order-per-delivery service run by Baemin. Coupang Eats operates only a single-order delivery system.
Kim added that more and more self-employed people are planning to avoid using Baemin 1 and Coupang Eats and encouraged customers to pick up their food for a cheaper price.
"These days, I have to pay 20,000 won to order just one meal for myself. So I pick up food at restaurants on my way home after I finish work. It saves me at least 3,000 won in delivery fees," a 31-year-old office worker surnamed Lee said.
Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, said the new price system aims to benefit delivery workers, not the company.
"If we get a 10,000 won online order, we take 680 won as a commission fee and restaurants have to pay delivery drivers 6,000 won. It is up to each restaurant whether they will shoulder the entire 6,000 won or charge customers a certain percentage of it," a Woowa Brothers official said.
"You can say a 6,000 won delivery fee is expensive, but it is because Baemin 1 only delivers one order at a time. Delivery drivers make more money if they deliver more than one order at a time. Delivery drivers would not want to handle a single-delivery service if they are paid only 3,000 won."
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