[2020 National Audit] Baemin's 'B Mart' Service Launch Leads to Convenience Store Delivery Sales Halving

B Mart Sales Surge 963.3%... Meanwhile, Convenience Store Delivery Sales Drop 48%
Hong Seong-guk: "Investigation Needed into Unfair Practices Arising from Delivery Platform Companies Entering the Distribution Industry"

Assemblyman Hong Seong-guk.

[Asia Economy Reporter Ju Sang-don] Delivery platform company Baedal Minjok's 'B Mart' service, which began in November last year by purchasing products in bulk and delivering them to consumers, has seen sales increase by 963% over approximately 10 months. In contrast, convenience store delivery sales have been halved.

According to data submitted by Woowa Brothers to Hong Seong-guk, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, Baedal Minjok's B Mart officially launched its service targeting the Seoul area in November 2019, with monthly sales increasing steadily. By August this year, sales had increased by 963.3% compared to the service launch. Baemin did not disclose specific sales figures or transaction counts.

On the other hand, according to data from the Korea Convenience Store Association, during the same period, the number of stores operating delivery services for convenience store chain A increased from 582 in November last year to 942 in August this year. However, the average order amount during this period decreased by 48%, and the average number of orders dropped from 3.3 to 1.5.

Following B Mart's success, Yogiyo also launched a similar service called 'Yo Mart' in September. Convenience stores have raised suspicions that Yogiyo utilized big data obtained from its existing convenience store delivery services for Yo Mart. However, Yo Mart representatives denied this, stating that Delivery Hero Stores Korea, which operates Yo Mart, and Delivery Hero Korea are separate legal entities and did not share related data.

Additionally, convenience stores claim that while Yogiyo promotes through banner exposure, Yo Mart receives preferential treatment by being featured at the top of the convenience store category, and Baedal Minjok is refusing to allow convenience stores to join its delivery app due to the presence of B Mart, which they argue constitutes unfair practices.

Assemblyman Hong stated, "Existing large marts and convenience stores are subject to regulations regarding product categories, business days, and store locations, but platform companies face no such regulations," adding, "An investigation by the Fair Trade Commission is necessary into unfair practices arising from delivery platform companies entering the distribution industry."

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