Small Business Owners "Burden of Platform Fees"... Accommodation App Advertising Costs 900,000 Won per Month

Korea Federation of SMEs Announces Survey Results
Calls for Enactment of Onple Act and Preparation of Standard Contracts
"Strict Compliance with Voluntary Regulation Measures Required"

Small business owners and self-employed individuals listed on online platforms such as Baedal Minjok and Yanolja expressed concerns over excessive cost burdens. The average monthly advertising fee that listed businesses must pay was found to be 900,000 KRW for accommodation apps and 200,000 KRW for delivery apps.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 9th the results of the "Online Distribution Transaction Survey," conducted over about two months starting in March, targeting 1,200 online platform-listed businesses.

This survey was conducted to understand last year's transaction status and difficulties faced by businesses listed on online platforms and to identify areas for improvement.

The survey targeted businesses listed on open markets (Coupang, Naver, Gmarket), delivery apps (Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo, Coupang Eats), accommodation apps (Yanolja, Yogi-otdae), and fashion apps (Musinsa, Zigzag, Ably, Naver Fashion).

The results showed that cost burdens were relatively higher for delivery apps and accommodation apps. The proportion of businesses responding that costs were "very burdensome" or "burdensome" was 64.7% for delivery apps, 62.3% for accommodation apps, 36.0% for open markets, and 29.0% for fashion apps.

The perceived appropriateness of current cost burdens (on a 100-point scale) ranked as follows: fashion apps (51.7 points), open markets (44.9 points), accommodation apps (32.8 points), and delivery apps (32.3 points).

The average monthly advertising fee was 899,110 KRW for accommodation app-listed businesses and 191,289 KRW for delivery app-listed businesses.

The average nominal sales commission rates were 19.1% for fashion apps, 11.8% for accommodation apps, and 11.1% for open markets. The average delivery fee per order borne by delivery app-listed businesses was 3,473 KRW.

The proportion of businesses that experienced unfair or unjust practices during transactions with platforms was highest for accommodation apps (10.7%), followed by delivery apps (7.3%), open markets (6.3%), and fashion apps (2.7%).

When asked about the most frequently experienced types of unfair or unjust practices, businesses across all four sectors responded that "cost burdens are excessive, but it is difficult to respond due to differences in bargaining power."

The proportion of listed businesses that responded that an Online Platform Fairness Act should be enacted as a minimum legal regulation beyond private self-regulation was 78.7% for accommodation apps, 77.3% for delivery apps, 77.0% for open markets, and 71.3% for fashion apps.

More than half of respondents in all four sectors agreed on the need to establish a standard contract, with "introducing a differentiated commission system based on the size of the listed business and other cost burden relief measures" accounting for the largest share.

Son Seong-won, head of the Small Business Policy Office at the Korea Federation of SMEs, emphasized, "Open markets and delivery apps must strictly comply with the self-regulation measures prepared this year. In the future, self-regulation measures for accommodation and fashion apps should actively reflect the opinions of small and medium enterprises and small business owners to include practical improvements."

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