South Korea's three major food delivery platforms—Baedal Minjok (operated by Woowa Brothers), Coupang Eats (operated by Coupang), and Yogiyo—received failing scores in a government assessment of their cooperation with small business partners, with fee structures drawing the harshest criticism.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced Wednesday that the three delivery apps averaged just 49.1 points out of 100 in a satisfaction survey. Yogiyo scored 49.5 points, Coupang Eats 49.4 points, and Baedal Minjok 48.4 points. The survey was conducted online in December, covering 500 merchant partners from each platform.
The assessment measured how merchant partners rated each delivery app's level of mutual cooperation, examining three categories: fee appropriateness, transaction terms, and cooperation efforts. The scores fall far short of the 73.47-point average recorded by 236 large corporations participating in the Shared Growth Index survey conducted in October last year.
Fee appropriateness scored the lowest among the three categories at 38.2 points on average, compared with 55 points for transaction terms and 50.7 points for cooperation efforts. The results indicate that improving fee structures should be the top priority for delivery apps seeking to enhance their ratings.
In a separate perception survey of merchant partners, only 28.3 percent said they were satisfied with delivery app fees, including brokerage commissions and delivery charges. This means roughly two-thirds of respondents considered the fee levels too high. Merchants said the appropriate brokerage commission should average 4.5 percent, with maximum delivery fees averaging 2,300 won ($1.60).
The perception survey was conducted to assess general usage patterns and satisfaction levels among delivery app merchant partners. It covered 808 merchants through in-person interviews from September to November 2025.
Merchants reported using an average of 2.3 delivery apps. The top-performing app accounted for an average of 67.7 percent of delivery orders, with brokerage commission rates averaging 8.2 percent. None of the respondents said they had received the 2 percent commission rate included in the mutual cooperation proposal announced in November 2024.
"This survey was conducted to assess perceptions of delivery apps and encourage mutual cooperation, given the significant burden that fees place on merchant partners," said Lee Eun-cheong, Director General of the Shared Growth Cooperation Policy Bureau. "Based on these results, we will work to create an environment where delivery apps and merchant partners can grow together."