Last month, Naver launched a same-day delivery service for daily necessities in the Seoul metropolitan area. Kurly, the operator of the e-commerce platform Market Kurly, is preparing a service in parts of Seoul that allows customers to receive their orders within one to two hours, expanding beyond their next-morning delivery service. A Kurly representative stated, “We will introduce the service, named Kurly Now, in the first half of this year.”
In 2014, when Coupang introduced its Rocket Delivery (next-day delivery) service, it was hailed as a “delivery revolution.” Over the past decade, consumer expectations for delivery services have risen even higher. More consumers are unwilling to wait until the next day for their orders, leading retailers to expand same-day delivery services to meet this demand. Now, consumers can receive not just fresh produce but also books, clothes, cosmetics and electronics on the same day they order them.
Since June of last year, the fashion commerce platform ZIGZAG, operated by Kakao Style, has been offering same-day delivery in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Orders placed by 2 p.m. are delivered the same day. A ZIGZAG representative stated, “Currently, we complete 97% of deliveries before midnight, and demand for fast delivery continues to grow.”
The speed of same-day delivery is also increasing. What used to take until the end of the day now takes just one to two hours. A representative from Woowa Brothers, the operator of Korea’s largest food delivery platform Baemin, explained, “B Mart, Baemin’s grocery service, handles about 10,000 items, with an average delivery time of 27 minutes, and 98% of deliveries are completed within an hour.”
The range of items available for same-day delivery has expanded significantly, essentially removing any limitations. Consumers can now receive books, cosmetics, fresh food, and even electronics on the same day, much like ordering delivery food. The retail industry views same-day delivery as a competitive edge over ultra-cheap Chinese products represented by AliExpress. Although international shipping is becoming faster, domestic companies with local logistics hubs can maintain an advantage in delivery speed.
SSG.com, Homeplus, and Lotte On are leveraging their widespread supermarket locations to provide same-day delivery. They pack online orders in their supermarkets and deliver them using their own vehicles. For example, SSG.com delivers orders placed by 2 p.m. within a minimum of three hours. An SSG.com representative stated, “We deliver 2.4 million fresh food and daily necessities on the same day.”
As same-day delivery scales up, the cost of delivery is decreasing for both consumers and companies. Olive Young offers a same-day delivery service, utilizing its numerous city stores and 11 urban logistics hubs. In 2018, same-day delivery cost 5,000 won, but now orders over 30,000 won qualify for free delivery. An Olive Young representative mentioned, “In Seoul, more than half of our online orders are delivered on the same day, and the increasing volume has enabled economies of scale, reducing delivery costs.”
