CU, Drone Delivery Commercialized... "Delivery Within 10 Minutes to Campsites"

Available from 3 PM to 8 PM... Free Delivery Fee

A drone is delivering CU products at the airstrip located in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] CU announced on the 6th that it will commercialize drone delivery starting from the 8th in collaboration with Yeongwol-gun.

The first drone delivery service location is CU Yeongwol Jugong Branch, located in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do. The delivery area is the Oasis Glamping Site, approximately 3.6 km from the store. The drone delivery service is available through Yeongwoldeuro, a drone-exclusive delivery application developed and operated by Bohemian OS. When customers order products through the app, the order is sent from the store to the drone takeoff site, and the drone flies to the final destination based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) to complete the delivery.

The service is available from 3 PM to 8 PM every Friday and Saturday, when demand at the glamping site surges, and delivery is free of charge. CU has planned sets tailored to the drone’s maximum payload of 5 kg, consisting of popular items at outdoor camping sites: a ramen meal set, coffee and dessert set, glamping snack set, and glamping cookie set.

The drone used for delivery weighs 17 kg and can fly for about 20 minutes without recharging. Its maximum speed is 36 km/h, roughly twice as fast as the maximum speed of an electric bicycle. The average delivery time from CU Yeongwol Jugong Branch to the glamping site is 10 minutes. Unlike two-wheeled vehicle delivery, the drone service is not affected by rider dispatch waiting times or traffic conditions, enabling more stable service.

A BGF Retail official said, “By commercializing drone delivery service, CU has overcome the limitations of region and distance to provide a customer-centered shopping environment,” adding, “We will continue to shorten the last mile for products to reach customers by integrating cutting-edge technology into retail.”