Surge in Orders for Korean Historical Books Amid Fear... Dawn Delivery Companies Unable to Fulfill Early Morning Deliveries

Major Companies Simultaneously Close Dawn Delivery on 24th
COVID-19 'Severe' Crisis Response Level Raised
Offline Stockpiling → Increase in Online Orders

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] "All the dawn delivery companies are fully booked for tomorrow. I've never seen this before, so I'm very scared and confused." On the 23rd, housewife Kim Minjeong (pseudonym, 35), who accessed a smartphone application (app) to purchase groceries, expressed her frustration. Major companies such as 'Market Kurly', 'Oasis', 'GS Fresh', and 'Coupang' either closed early for dawn delivery orders or consecutively suspended them. She sighed, saying, "I guess I'll have to go to the supermarket fully prepared tomorrow morning."

On the 24th, as the crisis level of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was raised to 'serious', a 'panic buying' frenzy spread both online and offline. Starting from large supermarkets mainly in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, panic buying spread to major metropolitan cities nationwide, including Seoul, and even affected online platforms. As a result, even dawn delivery companies, which operate on the principle of same-day early morning delivery, began to close their dawn delivery services early.

According to the related industry, the daily delivery volume of fresh food dawn delivery company Oasis Market reached 14,000 orders as of the 23rd. This is more than double the pre-COVID-19 outbreak volume (6,000 orders). Oasis Market had maintained an average of 7,400 orders by advancing the order cut-off time, but as concerns about COVID-19 grew mainly in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, the number of orders surged within a week. Dawn delivery is also closed until the 26th.

The situation is similar for Market Kurly. Market Kurly's average daily delivery volume has surged about 30% compared to the usual 30,000 to 40,000 orders over the past week. The increase began after the 31st confirmed case in Daegu on the 17th. Following a roughly 10% increase since the COVID-19 outbreak spread in January, order volumes have further increased in just the past week. However, Market Kurly does not specify dawn delivery dates, so daily order status varies.

The situation is similar for SSG.com, affiliated with E-Mart. As of the 22nd, the nationwide order closing rate was an average of 99.8%, about 20 percentage points higher than the early 80% range before the COVID-19 outbreak. Especially in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, SSG delivery is closed until the 28th, and major cities nationwide are closed on average until the 26th. Dawn delivery, which is available only in some areas of Seoul and Gyeonggi, will be possible from the 26th.

The surge in online orders following the full-scale panic buying of daily necessities including bottled water offline is mainly due to consumers' anxiety. In Daegu, where COVID-19 confirmed cases have exceeded 300, mass purchasing continues at large supermarkets such as Costco and E-Mart. The overheated consumer behavior trying to replace the shortage of daily necessities through online channels is believed to have caused a breakdown in the supply-demand balance. Coupang experienced a temporary out-of-stock situation for Rocket Delivery products on the evening of the 19th due to a surge in orders from the Daegu region.

A representative from a dawn delivery company explained, "We plan to sufficiently increase order volumes compared to usual to ensure no disruption in supply," adding, "We will thoroughly carry out disinfection work not only at headquarters but also in logistics centers, and take full measures for internal hygiene management such as individually supplying masks and placing disinfectants."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.