Food delivery spending hits record high as summer heat keeps Koreans indoors

A person eating food ordered through a delivery app [Generated with ChatGPT AI]

"I use two food delivery apps, and my annual spending on just one of them comes to about 43 million won ($31,100). I spend around 10 million won a month on food," mukbang YouTuber Tzuyang said.

"I spend about 20 million won a month on food alone," mukbang YouTuber Hibab said.

Food delivery platforms have become a fixture of daily life in South Korea. The figures cited by popular mukbang creators — tens of millions of won spent on delivery orders — illustrate just how deeply embedded the habit has become.

This summer in particular, temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius made dining out increasingly difficult. With many people choosing to stay home and order in rather than brave the heat, total payments on food delivery apps hit an all-time high last month.

According to a survey of Korean credit and debit card transactions released Tuesday by market research firm WiseApp Retail, combined estimated payments across four major food delivery platforms — Baemin, Coupang Eats, Yogiyo and Ddaenggyeoyo — reached 3.28 trillion won in July.

That marks an 18 percent increase from 2.79 trillion won in July last year and surpasses the previous record of 3.2 trillion won set in May, just two months earlier.

The average number of orders per user stood at 5.8, with an average monthly spend of 134,747 won. The average transaction value per order was 23,203 won.

By platform, Baemin led with about 23.02 million monthly active users, making it the most-used food delivery app among Koreans. Coupang Eats followed with about 13.13 million users, then Yogiyo with about 3.55 million and Ddaenggyeoyo with about 2.49 million.

Coupang Eats in particular showed notable growth. WiseApp said the platform set new records last month in both active users and estimated payment volume.

The headquarters of Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin. [Provided by Woowa Brothers]

The food delivery market appears to be consolidating around a two-player dominant structure.

WiseApp data from February showed Baemin with about 22.49 million monthly active users, Coupang Eats with about 12.49 million and Yogiyo with about 3.97 million. Over roughly five months, Baemin and Coupang Eats have continued to grow while third-place Yogiyo has declined, widening the gap between the top two and the rest.

Competition between the two leaders is intensifying. Baemin expanded its data-driven local restaurant curation service, Mintstar, nationwide Tuesday. Through the service, Baemin has selected about 4,000 restaurants across the country — including 2,500 in Seoul — and provides detailed write-ups on what makes each spot special and which dishes are must-tries.

Coupang Eats, in hot pursuit, has extended its delivery fee support promotion for orders with no minimum requirement through next month as it pushes hard to attract new users.

A scene from a Coupang Eats television advertisement. [Captured from Coupang Eats YouTube channel]

Meanwhile, more than half of food delivery app users in South Korea use two or more platforms simultaneously — a behavior known as "multi-homing."

A survey of 2,500 food delivery platform users conducted by the Ministry of Science and ICT found that 55 percent used two or more platforms. Fifteen percent said they used all three major platforms — Baemin, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo.

sjpark@heraldcorp.com