Millions of people are suffering from coronaphobia. The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing pandemic and our daily lives have changed unimaginably. The prolonged COVID-19 infection is causing many financial difficulties. As internet penetration and smartphone use increase, uncontacted platforms are drawing attention. Due to coronaphobia and government restrictions, most people are spending more time staying at home compared to the past. According to these reasons, the order delivery market is showing rapid growth. Students at Chungbuk National University are also using delivery apps. However, the store owners are suffering due to the high cost of commission payable to food delivery app owners who now seem to have a monopoly on the market.



  Currently, Delivery Hero which is an exclusive company accounts for 99 percent of the delivery application market. In April, Delivery Hero announced a change in the rate system and it became the center of a controversy. After that, Delivery Hero decided to terminate the commission increase plan due to criticism by the public. However, Delivery Hero already has 99 percent of the food delivery app market share. In other words, people are living in the tyranny of the monopoly without realizing it. Whenever people use the delivery app, advertising fees, brokerage fees, and delivery agency fees are charged to store owners. As people use monopolistic apps more and more, store owners are forced to raise delivery food charges, and inevitably consumers get hurt in the process. In other words, monopolizing a platform that is popular with many consumers predicates a tragedy for consumers. According to chicken restaurant owners that are using delivery apps now, commission accounts for up to 20 percent of the chicken prices. Using delivery apps has greatly reduced profitability.
  The CBT met Jeong Chun-hee, who currently uses a delivery app and who is the owner of a chicken restaurant in Jeonju. CBT asked about the usage of delivery apps and its commission.
  “Nowadays, the growth of the delivery app market seems to be the trend. However, using a delivery app does not mean it is profitable for the store, because advertising fees, card fees, monthly membership fees, fees for every purchase, and various disposable packaging containers all add on to the cost. For that, I have a lot of concern about whether I should use the delivery app or not.”
  Secondly, CBT asked about the willingness to use the public delivery app.“Food delivery apps such as the ‘Baedal People’, ‘Coupang-eats’ and ‘Yogiyo’ operate 24 hours a day. There are also many people using it and the infrastructure is well maintained. If there are many customers who use public delivery apps, I would like to use public delivery apps with low commission. I hope the public delivery app fares well.”
  Nowadays, the monopoly of the delivery industry has become severe. Therefore, Public delivery apps are launched to alleviate the monopoly. On September 15, the public delivery app Chungbuk Mukkaebi was released in Chungcheongbuk-do. Currently, ‘Chungbuk Mukkaebi’ is getting more popular among the public and the number of participating stores are increasing rapidly. Existing delivery app companies charge restaurant owners 6 to 12 percent commission in the name of advertising and brokerage fees and so on. In comparison, ‘Chungbuk Mukkaebi’ charges a 1.5 percent commission for brokerage fees. It certainly is a low fee compared to other delivery apps and does not charge advertising fees or enrollment fees and so on. However, consumers have a narrow selection because the number of entered stores is significantly less than other delivery apps.
  Kim Ju-hyung, a representative of ‘Mukkaebi’, said, “To make the public delivery app popular, ‘Mukkaebi’ alone is not enough.” A representative of ‘Mukkaebi’ Kim Ju-hyung requested restaurant owners to participate in the commercialization of public delivery apps. “First, register your store with ‘Mukkeabi’ and be kind to the customers. Then, the customer will use ‘Mukkaebi’ again. Second, please inform the store owners around your restaurant about the emergence of the ‘Mukkaebi’. Currently, there are not various restaurants in Mukkaebi compared to the other established delivery apps.  Consumers want diversity, so we desperately need the participation.” In addition, Kim Ju-hyung commented on the performance of ‘Chungbuk Mukkebi’. “I have been operating the delivery app for 3 years and I’ve never seen a region that is as popular as ‘Chungbuk Mukkebi’. We will try hard to account for a 10 percent market share by the end of 2020.”
  Finally, the CBT asked Kim Ju-hyung to say something to the CBNU students. “CBNU and Chungbuk Mukkebi’s first names are the same. It means we are family. Good-hearted consumption is a big help to your neighbors. Please use ‘Chungbuk Mukkebi’ a lot. Thank you.”
  Through the commercialization of public delivery apps, ‘Chungbuk Mukkebi’ plans to ease the financial burden on restaurant owners in the monopoly of the food delivery app. However, to survive in competition with firmly established private companies, they desperately need CBNU students’ active participation.

By Back Han-na
backna@cbnu.ac.kr