On the 15th, stickers of Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats are attached to a restaurant in downtown Seoul./Courtesy of News1

Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok (Baemin), announced on the 19th that it will fully waive the brokerage fee for orders under 10,000 won and provide differential support for delivery costs. This is in accordance with the interim agreement reached through social dialogue with merchant groups such as the National Franchise Association and the Association of Business Owners for Fair Platforms.

According to the interim agreement, Baemin will implement a complete waiver of brokerage fees for orders under 10,000 won, provide differential support for delivery fees, and for orders between 10,000 won and 15,000 won, it plans to offer differentiated support for brokerage fees and others to alleviate the burden on merchants. The specific support methods will be determined later.

This is expected to effectively resolve the issue where the burden ratio on merchants increases in proportion to the order amount as the order amount decreases. Franchise owners have been moving towards raising the minimum order amount.

This interim agreement also includes provisions that do not impose brokerage fees on the portions of discount coupons issued by the franchise headquarters for which the merchants bear the expense.

Additionally, the agreement contains measures to improve merchant convenience, such as establishing a dedicated consultation center for merchants, improving the loss compensation application system, simplifying the written procedure forms for merchants, and creating a system allowing direct communication between merchants and riders.

Woowa Brothers explained that it derived these improvement measures through discussions with merchant organizations that began in late March. To this end, Woowa Brothers will support up to 100 billion won annually, with a maximum of 300 billion won over three years.

Bom Kim, CEO of Woowa Brothers, said, "This interim agreement will alleviate the burden on partnering businesses while creating a new opportunity for growth," and added, "In a situation where single-person households are increasing, support for small orders will bring convenience and benefits to consumers, and expand orders and alleviate the burden for merchants." Meanwhile, Coupang Eats, the second-largest player in the food delivery market, also plans to engage in social dialogue separately from Baemin.

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