Buy groceries off eBay? South Korea tries it out…

Online auction website eBay has launched a food delivery service in South Korea in partnership with Homeplus. Customers will be able to have their groceries and food delivered on the same day as they order them.

A notice on eBay Korea’s website said, “Korean shoppers, particularly single households and double-income families, are increasingly looking to buy small bundles of fresh produce online and have it delivered the same day.”

Ebay’s statement added, “The new arrangement will mean more than 30,000 items can be ordered from Gmarket-IAC and supplied to homes the same day via Homeplus’ logistics system and arsenal of cold storage trucks. The service currently encompasses 88 stores nationwide but will expand over time.”

The same day delivery phenomenon is becoming an important business globally in the delivery market as people increasingly want their goods at a similar convenience to their popping down to the shops to buy the same items. The fact that goods could at best be delivered 24 hours after the final click has been a competitive disadvantage for e-commerce companies. Postal and delivery operators around the world are investing heavily in same day delivery services, and this is being welcomed by customers.

South Korea is one of the most advanced nations globally in terms of uptake of internet services. Setting up its telecommunications system later than many Western countries, the government of the time was able to future proof the system. As a result it has been able to surpass the limitations faced by European countries which use copper wire internet connections in many cases – South Korea has been on fibre optic connections for many years. With this advance of a universal same day grocery shopping offer, it leads the world once again with the internet.

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