Baemin, Yogiyo see record transaction drops in Feb amid Coupang's rise

South Korea’s top and third-ranked food delivery apps, Baedal Minjok (Baemin) and Yogiyo, saw their biggest-ever monthly drops in transaction volumes in February as Coupang Eats continued to eat into their market share.

According to alternative data provider Hankyung Aicel, Baemin’s adjusted credit card transaction volume fell 16.8% to 822.7 billion won ($561 million) in February from the year prior. That marked its sharpest monthly decline since the relevant data started being compiled in 2018.

Yogiyo’s credit card transaction volume last month plunged 42.7% – the platform's sharpest annual drop on record.

Their slump highlights Coupang Eats’ rise in the food delivery app market, which has expanded to 29.28 trillion won in 2024 from 17.33 trillion won in 2020, according to data from Statistics Korea.

PAID SUBSCRIBERS ACROSS COUPANG PLATFORMS

Coupang Eats, South Korea’s No. 2 food delivery platform, is leveraging the vast customer base across Coupang Inc.'s platforms.

It offers free delivery and discounts on orders above a minimum threshold for 14 million Wow Members, or paid subscribers of e-commerce platform Coupang.

Coupang Eats accounted for 37.0% of total credit card spending across the nation’s top three food delivery platforms in February, more than doubling its share from 19.0% a year earlier, according to Hankyung Aicel under The Korea Economic Daily.

In contrast, Baemin's market share fell to 57.8% from 71.5% over the same period, while Yogiyo's declined to just 5.2% from 9.5%.

The figures are based on credit card settlement data from over 20 million users, showing over 90% correlation to actual company revenue.

USER RETENTION RATE

Coupang Eats saw a rise in customer retention. In January last year, 57.1% of Coupang Eats users returned to the platform within six months, up from 54.1% the year prior and 41.1% in January 2022.

Baemin's six-month reuse rate stood at 57.9% as of January 2024, narrowly ahead of Coupang Eats. However, that figure is down from 61.2% a year earlier, signaling a softening in user stickiness.

Yogiyo fared worse. Its retention rate declined to 42.2% from 50.4% over the same period.

MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

Coupang bumped up its monthly fee to 7,890 won in 2024, up 58% from 4,990 won. Despite the hike, its bundled benefits are strengthening customer stickiness across Coupang’s ecosystem, including over-the-top platform Coupang Play.

Coupang Eats' active user number jumped from 6.26 million in March 2023 – when the free delivery service was introduced for paid subscribers – to 10.26 million as of last month, according to data from Mobile Index, a Korean mobile market tracker.

“Order volume more than doubled at regional restaurants in the week following our nationwide rollout of free delivery in May 2024,” said a Coupang official.

Baemin and Yogiyo are striking back with their own membership programs. Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, launched its “Baemin Club” service in September 2023, offering free delivery and cashback rewards for a monthly fee of 3,990 won.

Yogiyo operator Wesang rolled out its subscription service “Yogi Pass X” in 2023.

The discount war is spurring growth in South Korea’s food delivery market.

According to data from Statistics Korea, the total transaction volume for food delivery services hit 29.28 trillion won in 2024, up 10.9% from the previous year.

The figure surpassed the 26.59 trillion won logged in 2022 – a year widely considered the peak of the delivery app market – despite rising food prices.

Credit card spending across the three major delivery platforms – Baemin, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo – also rose 5.7% year on year in the first two months of 2025.

“Coupang’s aggressive marketing, including free delivery, appears to have played a key role in boosting repeat use of food delivery services,” said Park Yi-kyung, a data analyst at Hankyung Aisel.

Write to Taeho Lee at thlee@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.