Romarket-Seoul City, Agreement on 'Zero Delivery Union' to Support Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The neighborhood mart-exclusive delivery app ‘Romarket’ is partnering with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to reduce the commission burden of delivery apps on small business owners. By leveraging the Zero Pay infrastructure, it plans to offer low intermediary commissions and realize mutual growth with small business operators.

Jilkyung, the operator of the Romarket service, attended the Zero Pay-based ‘Zero Delivery Union’ business agreement ceremony held on the afternoon of the 25th at the 2nd floor press conference room of the National Assembly Communication Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, as the selected delivery platform operator. The Zero Delivery Union is a win-win network where the public and private sectors cooperate to reduce the high intermediary commission fees of delivery apps, which impose a significant financial burden on small business owners.

The agreement ceremony was attended by 10 companies related to delivery service apps including Romarket, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea Easy Payment Promotion Agency (hereafter HanGyeolwon), about 25 members of the National Assembly including Lee Yong-seon of the Democratic Party, and three organizations participating in the Zero Delivery Union agreement (Small Business Federation, National Franchisee Council, Korea Federation of Small Business Owners and Self-Employed).

The main content of the agreement is that the Seoul Metropolitan Government, HanGyeolwon, and participating organizations will help reduce marketing and investment costs incurred by delivery platform companies to secure and recruit franchise stores, and lower the intermediary commissions that small business franchise stores pay to delivery companies.

To this end, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide the Seoul Love Gift Certificate as a payment method for delivery apps. The Seoul Love Gift Certificate is sold at a 7-10% discount, and recently, due to increased citizen interest in non-face-to-face consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of members has expanded to 1.2 million. The number of Zero Pay franchise stores where the gift certificate can be used has also reached about 250,000.

Delivery app service companies will build their own platforms for delivery orders based on the support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, HanGyeolwon, and participating organizations, and provide services to small business owners at a low intermediary commission rate of 2% or less. They also plan to include Zero Pay and Seoul Love Gift Certificate as payment methods within the delivery platform to help activate these online payment methods.

HanGyeolwon supports existing Zero Pay franchise stores to join delivery apps participating in the Zero Delivery Union, and the organizations participating in the Zero Delivery Union plan to expand the number of franchise stores for delivery apps.

Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, who attended the agreement ceremony, said, “Some companies are monopolizing the delivery market, causing small business owners and self-employed people to suffer from high advertising fees and intermediary commissions. This also acts as a barrier for small venture companies or startups to enter the delivery platform market.” He added, “In the untact society accelerated by COVID-19, I hope that companies participating in the Zero Delivery Union will transform the delivery market, worth 20 trillion won annually, into a ‘fair market’ where small business owners can also benefit through innovative ideas.”

CEO Choi said, “Romarket is a service created to support small business owners running neighborhood marts and to revitalize the local economy. We strongly agree with the purpose of the Zero Delivery Union and proudly consider it the most suitable service,” adding, “We will actively express the necessary points on the ground so that the Zero Delivery Union can provide practical help to small business owners and franchisees.”

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