First Launch at Cheongnyangni, Amsa, and Noryangjin Markets... Same-Day, Early Morning, and Bundled Delivery
High Support with 86% of Market Merchants... Focus on Product Management and Logistics Efficiency Reduces Delivery Fees
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[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] From now on, innovative logistics services including online purchasing channels, dawn delivery, same-day delivery, and bundled delivery will be available even in traditional markets.
On the 21st, Seoul City announced that it has completed the establishment of Micro Fulfillment Centers (MFC) and the introduction of a digital logistics platform at three locations: Cheongnyangni General Market, Amsa General Market, and Noryangjin Fish Market, and will launch the "Our Market Fast Delivery" service nationwide for the first time starting on the 22nd. MFC is a small-scale logistics facility that supports fast delivery by handling the entire process of product picking, sorting, storage, and delivery.
Our Market Fast Delivery is a pilot project that innovates the market’s ordering and delivery system by building logistics infrastructure such as MFCs and digital logistics systems within the market. Until now, orders were managed only by phone or handwritten methods, but now all processes are digitized, establishing a system that can efficiently integrate and manage logistics within the market.
The MFCs have introduced refrigerated and frozen warehouses to maintain product freshness, as well as IT equipment for delivery, electric carts for product pickup and delivery, and electric cargo vehicles. The digital logistics platform is a system that automatically links order and delivery information entered at stores to the market’s logistics platform. When merchants input order and delivery information, the data is linked in real time to the MFC, which supports product pickup, delivery, and settlement processing.
The logistics infrastructure construction and operation within the market is managed by "Colosseum." Colosseum is a competitive startup leading digital logistics with artificial intelligence (AI) and big data by networking logistics centers nationwide. It was selected as the operating organization through a public recruitment for participation in Seoul City’s Smart Urban Logistics Infrastructure Support Project in January this year.
To promote the Our Market Fast Delivery project for the first time this year, Seoul City announced a call for participation from autonomous districts and market corporations in April. In particular, to increase the success potential and ensure sustainability of the fast delivery pilot project, evaluation criteria such as securing more than 60% merchant consent rate were established, resulting in the final selection of Cheongnyangni General Market, Amsa General Market, and Noryangjin Fish Market. The current average merchant consent rate of the three markets is 86%, showing very high enthusiasm from market merchants wishing to participate in Our Market Fast Delivery.
Supporting Various Deliveries Across Seoul... Lower Prices Through Bundled Delivery
The introduction of logistics infrastructure will dramatically change the order and delivery flow within the markets. Previously, individual merchants had to handle all processes themselves, but from now on, cumbersome tasks such as pickup, storage, sorting, and delivery will be collectively handled at the MFC operated by logistics specialists. When consumers order products online or offline and enter delivery information, merchants only need to prepare the products.
Afterwards, operational staff pick up the products and move them to the MFC, where they are quickly sorted according to the delivery type. Especially, products with the same destination can be bundled for delivery at once, reducing the burden on consumers ordering multiple items. After sorting, products are moved to refrigerated or frozen warehouses to maintain maximum freshness before final delivery to the customer’s desired location.
Delivery types will also diversify. Through Our Market Fast Delivery, various delivery types such as same-day delivery, dawn delivery, and bundled delivery will be introduced, and all deliveries will be possible throughout Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province. Consumers will be able to order delivery not only by visiting the market but also easily purchase various products online.
With Our Market Fast Delivery, consumers will not only receive products conveniently but also at lower delivery costs. By integrating the entire market’s volume for efficient delivery, delivery costs can be reduced by about 30% compared to before. For example, in the case of Uiryeong Sanghoe at Cheongnyangni General Market, previously, consumers had to pay 6,000 to 7,000 KRW per box of fruit individually for delivery, but with Our Market Fast Delivery, it is now possible to deliver at a bundled rate of 4,000 KRW per box.
Colosseum, which operates the Our Market Fast Delivery service, announced that during this year’s Chuseok holiday period, it conducted a delivery test integrating delivery volumes within the market. Compared to 250 deliveries during the same period last year, about 1,120 deliveries were made, an increase of approximately 350%, delivering more cheaply than before and verifying a delivery cost saving effect of about 3 million KRW.
Seoul City plans to first support fast delivery services for offline orders and then expand support to online orders starting in December. The online order platform is being prepared to enable online ordering through existing active channels such as Naver, Danggeun Market, and Market Mall (Cheongnyang Mall), rather than building a new platform. Each market will provide opportunities for many citizens to experience the fast delivery service through various planned events and discount promotions starting in December. Additionally, a pilot project will be conducted this year targeting the three markets to evaluate delivery volume, sales increase, and satisfaction of merchants and citizens, after which the expansion of Our Market Fast Delivery to other markets will be decided.
Baek Ho, Director of the Seoul City Urban Transportation Office, said, “The Our Market Fast Delivery project, introduced for the first time nationwide by Seoul City, is expected to be a new operational method to revitalize traditional markets in a situation where young consumers’ interest is drifting away due to large marts and shopping malls.” He added, “We will create a distribution and logistics environment where both users and merchants can coexist by providing consumer-tailored services such as online ordering and various delivery options.”
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