When you try to order food through a delivery app, you may hesitate to order it due to high delivery fee. The recent increase in delivery fees has led to growing consumer complaints and accelerating their departure. In most consumers’ opinion, 1,500 to 3,000 won would be the ideal delivery fee. However, according to a survey conducted by the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations last month, the maximum delivery cost for the 3 to 4km section is 6,400 won to 7,000 won based on short delivery during lunchtime over the weekend. In this situation, where you have to pay a high delivery fee to order food, it is perfect to say that it is a case of the tail wagging the dog. The delivery market boomed in 2019 as social distancing spread due to COVID-19. It made a big profit by taking advantage of the special situation of the pandemic.
However, as COVID-19 has eased, monthly delivery app users have significantly declined. According to the Mobile Index, the number of delivery app users decreased by 18.5% from 35.86 million in February 2022 to 29.22 million in February 2023. Why did the number of delivery app users drop sharply? There may be reasons for the sharp drop in the number of delivery app users, such as the complete lifting of social distancing and rising prices, but among them, the biggest cause of consumers’ departure is the soaring delivery fees. A rise in delivery fees, a factor that consumers consider after food prices, will inevitably burden consumers. Therefore, as the delivery fee, which was 1,500 won to 3,000 won, rises to up to 7,000 won, consumers naturally turn to packaging or dining out instead of paying expensive delivery fees.
The delivery industry is coming up with self-rescue measures to cope with the sharp drop in the number of users. In the case of Baedal Minjok, a leading company in the delivery industry, it introduced a thrifty delivery service in April to lower the burden of delivery fees for consumers. Thrifty delivery is a bundle delivery service that allows riders to deliver all at once according to their movements. Baedal Minjok argued that the thrifty delivery service will ease the burden of delivery costs for store owners and consumers. Other delivery platforms, Yogiyo and Coupang Eats, are also trying to attract consumers who are leaving by introducing regular subscription services. However, despite these efforts by the delivery industry, consumers’ reactions are cold. In the case of thrifty delivery, bundled delivery often causes consumers to receive colder food than the original delivery system. Regular subscription services are also insufficient to give consumers a sense of rational consumption. Consumers’ negative perception of such high deliveryfees is not likely to change easily, leading them to opt for dine-in or takeout option than delivery. The decrease of demand in delivery caused by the increase of delivery fees can be better way, if we consdier the side effect that delivery foods effect to the environment. Concerned problems in side of envirionment are the carbon dioxide in delivery by a motorcycle and disposable products used as packing container. Instead of reducing carbon emissions and using disposable products, you can think of a better way to walk and pack them in multiple containers.