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| Delivery drivers pose in front of Woowa Brothers' headquarters in Seoul in this 2017 file photo. Courtesy of Woowa Brothers |
By Kim Jae-heun
Baedal Minjok (Baemin), Korea's largest food delivery platform operated by Woowa Brothers, is seeking to become a general e-commerce platform while further boosting its online food delivery business, according to company officials Wednesday.
Baemin, which had posted significant sales growth during the 3-year COVID-19 lockdown, has seen its online food deliver service grow at a slower pace since early this year when the pandemic eased, including soaring food price inflation and falling demand for online food orders.
According to the Mobile Index of big data platform IGAWorks, Wednesday, the number of Baemin's monthly active users (MAUs) fell 4.2 percent year-on-year to stand at 19.87 million in January.
Baemin's quick commerce service "B Mart" and open market platform "Baemin Store" are Woowa Brothers' new growth engines.
The B Mart service delivers daily necessities ordered on Baemin's app in 30 minutes. The company also sells various items including beauty products and flowers on its Baemin Store.
Unlike food delivery services, where people place orders in relatively set timeframes, grocery shopping happens around the clock.
Woowa Brothers is currently expanding its service area for B Mart in the country. It was only available around the capital area ― Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon ― but is now available in Busan, Daegu and Daejeon too.
The company also established some 40 micro-fulfillment centers across the nation and it is now selling over 7,000 items. Baemin Store is also continuing to attract more small sellers on its platform.
"Baemin cannot grow with the food delivery service alone now. The market has become saturated and there is severe competition among companies," an industry official said. "It a vision to become more than a food delivery service app. One day the company will sell clothes and mobile phones, but it will take some time.
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