Lotte Department Store Joins Quick Delivery Competition

Lotte Department Store has joined the red-hot competition for fast delivery of products. The chain launched a trial service in Seoul on Monday delivering products within three hours of purchase on its website.

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Customers who order before 4:30 p.m. can get them within three hours by motorcycle courier. Around 90,000 products on Lotte's website can be delivered that way.

Purchases over W100,000 are delivered free of charge, while cheaper ones cost W10,000 extra (US$1=W1,203).

Kim Myung-koo at Lotte said, "We plan to expand the service to Busan, Daegu and other major provincial cities next year".

Rival Hyundai Department Store plans to launch a similar service in August of this year focusing on food. If cooking ingredients are ordered before 11 p.m., they will be delivered to doorsteps before 7 a.m. the next morning, while food sold by restaurants in its malls will be delivered within an hour.

So far department stores have only delivered products after on-site purchases, often within an epic timeframe. But now, according to a staffer, "We felt the need to join the race after lockdown changed the landscape of private consumption".