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Photo courtesy of Woowa Brothers |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Baedal Minjok (Baemin), a leading food delivery platform in South Korea, announced a new merchant support plan that includes waiving commission fees for orders under KRW 10,000. The move is intended to reduce the financial burden on small business owners handling low-value orders.
The operator, Woowa Brothers, reached the agreement through mediation by the Democratic Party’s People's Livelihood Committee, along with the National Franchise Association and the Association for Fair Platforms. Under the plan, orders ranging from KRW 10,000 to KRW 15,000 will also receive reduced commission rates, and delivery fee support of approximately KRW 1,500 to 2,000 will be provided depending on the order value. Baemin estimates the total merchant support will reach KRW 100 billion annually.
However, many small business owners remain skeptical. They argue that rising food prices have already made sub-KRW 10,000 orders rare. Critics view the move as a strategic effort to promote Baemin’s recently launched “single-serving delivery” service, which removes the minimum order threshold and targets the solo dining market.
Kim Beom-jun, CEO of Woowa Brothers, stated, “This initiative aims to alleviate merchant costs and stimulate small-order activity, which could benefit both consumers and business owners through increased sales.”
Despite Baemin’s positioning of the policy as a step toward addressing structural issues in the delivery market, concerns remain over its real-world impact. In low-cost orders, the combination of commission fees and delivery costs has previously resulted in merchants bearing up to 40% of the order value in expenses.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
