"Food Delivery Fee of 1600 Won is Reasonable"... What is the Reality?

Majority of Consumers Willing to Pay 1,000 to 3,000 Won Delivery Fee

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] A survey found that the appropriate delivery fee consumers consider when ordering food delivery is around 1,600 won.

When broken down by income level, the group with the lowest average monthly income indicated the highest average appropriate delivery fee.

Additionally, one in two people expressed willingness to choose eco-friendly packaging even if it meant paying an extra cost.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute released a report on the 22nd titled "Survey Results on the Food Service Industry Related to Inclusive Growth and Sustainability." The institute conducted a survey on dining-out behaviors from September 13 to 23 last year, targeting 2,000 adults aged between their 20s and 60s.

The survey results showed that when assuming an order of 20,000 won worth of food delivery, respondents indicated an average appropriate delivery fee of 1,617.7 won.

Looking at the distribution by price range, the 1,000?2,000 won range accounted for the largest share at 45.3%, followed by the 2,000?3,000 won range at 41%. The 3,000?4,000 won range was 5.5%, and 4,000 won was only 1.3%. Respondents who answered 0 won made up 7% of the total.

This means the majority of respondents are willing to pay a delivery fee between 1,000 and 3,000 won.

By age group, the average appropriate delivery fee was highest among those in their 60s at 1,794 won, followed by those in their 40s (1,645 won), 50s (1,611 won), and 20s to 30s (each 1,554 won).

When respondents were divided by income level, those with a monthly average income below 2 million won indicated the highest average appropriate delivery fee at 1,880 won, followed by those in the 4 million won range (1,699 won), above 6 million won (1,627 won), 3 million won range (1,543 won), 5 million won range (1,542 won), and 2 million won range (1,495 won).

Meanwhile, according to a recent survey by the Korea Consumer Agency's Price Monitoring Center last month, the delivery fee for the four major domestic delivery platforms?Baedal Minjok, Baemin 1, Yogiyo, and Coupang Eats?was mostly 3,000 won for deliveries under 3 kilometers (km).

When the delivery distance increased to 3?4 km, the delivery fee rose to around 5,000?6,000 won depending on the platform.

Only 18.5% of consumers had used public delivery apps.

The reasons for not using public delivery apps included "not knowing such an app exists" (42.9%), "the hassle of installing and signing up for a separate app" (20.9%), and "limited number of stores available for ordering" (20.2%).