Hamburger Delivery Orders More Expensive Than In-Store... "Insufficient Disclosure of Price Differences"

Consumer Agency Investigates Hamburger Franchise

Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] It has been revealed that purchasing products from major hamburger franchise companies through delivery orders is more expensive than buying them in-store.

On the 19th, the Korea Consumer Agency announced the results of an investigation conducted from March 8 to April 23 on five stores each of five major hamburger franchise companies in the Songpa-gu area of Seoul.

Except for Mom's Touch, all products from four companies?Lotteria, McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC?showed price differences between delivery orders and in-store purchases. When ordering delivery from these four companies, hamburger sets were 1,000 to 1,200 KRW more expensive than in-store prices. Single hamburgers were 700 to 900 KRW more expensive, side menus were 600 to 700 KRW more expensive, and drinks were 500 to 700 KRW more expensive. The four companies explained that this was because they included delivery service-related costs in the product prices instead of charging separate delivery fees when orders exceeded a certain amount.

Price Differences Between Delivery and In-Store for Each Item at Hamburger Franchises.

The Consumer Agency pointed out, "While the price differentiation for delivery products can sometimes be advantageous to consumers considering the market delivery fees, it is disadvantageous to consumers in that the more products ordered, the more they pay compared to in-store purchases."

In fact, when ordering hamburger sets and side menus to meet the minimum order amount for free delivery from these four companies, delivery prices were 1,200 to 3,100 KRW more expensive than in-store prices. Additionally, for a family of four ordering four representative hamburger set menus from each company, delivery prices were 4,000 to 4,800 KRW more expensive than in-store prices.

Upon reviewing the websites and mobile applications operated by the four problematic companies, only Burger King and KFC provided information during the ordering and payment process that delivery prices differed from in-store prices. Delivery platforms such as Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo, and Coupang Eats did not disclose this information for all four companies. Delivery fee information was either completely absent or displayed as '0 KRW' or 'free.'

Based on this investigation, the Consumer Agency recommended that hamburger franchises clearly inform customers of key transaction terms during the ordering and payment process. They also plan to request delivery platforms to indicate that in-store prices and delivery prices differ.

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