Chungnam Launches 'Local Delivery App' with the Lowest Nationwide Fees

Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungcheongnam-do (second from the right), is signing at the public-private cooperation Chungnam-type delivery app business agreement ceremony held at Chungnam Provincial Office on the 6th. Photo by Chungnam Province

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is launching a delivery app with brokerage fees in the 1% range. Considering that the commission fees of private delivery apps mainly used in the market are around 20%, this is the lowest rate in the country.

On the 7th, the province announced that it will launch the ‘Chungnam-type Delivery App,’ a platform service that can be used with an order and payment commission fee of 1.7% without separate advertising or listing fees, in collaboration with 15 cities and counties in the province, the Chungnam branch of the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, and private companies.

Along with the app launch, each city and county will support budgets and administration by region, and the Chungnam branch of the Korea Foodservice Industry Association will encourage the bulk registration of 35,887 member foodservice businesses as franchise stores.

The province plans to conduct events such as coupon support to promote the app and encourage user registration. In particular, app users will also be able to receive discount benefits through regional currency linked to the app by city and county.

The private company Shopchain will be responsible for service operation and franchise management. Shopchain will provide the province with franchise, customer, and order data generated during service operation for analysis and utilization, while also providing information of customers who consent to receive marketing information to franchise stores.

Previously, Shopchain was selected as the app operator after receiving the highest score from a screening committee composed of eight members, including four experts and four officials from the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, last month.

The province expects that the app launch will lead to increased profits through commission fee reduction for local small business owners.

Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, said, “As of September last year, two delivery apps account for 90% of the domestic delivery app market,” adding, “In this situation, it is a very meaningful attempt for a local government to develop a public delivery app and take the lead in supporting small business owners.”

He continued, “The province will secure franchise stores by utilizing the foodservice business network owned by the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, and with Shopchain’s prepared technology and local government administrative support, we will activate a delivery app that enables win-win cooperation among small business owners, consumers, and operating companies.”

Meanwhile, Governor Yang signed a business agreement for the ‘Chungnam-type Delivery App’ yesterday with Kim Hong-jang, Vice Chairman of the Chungnam Mayors and County Governors Council, Ryu Bung-seok, President of the Chungnam branch of the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, and Kim Man-geol, CEO of Shopchain.

The agreement was signed with the purpose of introducing a delivery app with drastically reduced commission fees in response to consumer patterns favoring non-face-to-face delivery services due to COVID-19, to help stabilize the management of small business owners and revitalize the local economy.

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