Partner merchants give Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats, and Yogiyo a failing grade on satisfaction: "Unhappy with fees"

[Financial News] Partner merchants using Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats, and Yogiyo reported an average satisfaction score that did not even reach half of the 100-point scale.
In particular, ratings for the appropriateness of commission fees were very low, prompting calls for an overhaul of the fee structures used by food delivery apps.
According to the results of the "2025 Perception Survey on the Three Major Delivery Platforms" released on the 5th by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership, the average perceived satisfaction score for the three apps was 49.1 points. This is far below the 73.47-point average recorded by large companies evaluated under the Shared Growth Index.
Perceived satisfaction measures how partner merchants rate each app’s level of win-win cooperation. It is composed of 20 items across three categories.
By company, Yogiyo scored the highest perceived satisfaction at 49.5 points, followed by Coupang Eats at 49.4 and Baedal Minjok at 48.4.
Among the evaluation categories, the score for the appropriateness of commission fees averaged just 38.2 points. This was significantly lower than transaction terms at 55.0 points and cooperation efforts at 50.7 points. The results indicate that improving fee structures is urgent if food delivery apps are to raise perceived satisfaction among partner merchants.
The burden of food delivery app fees was also evident in the separate awareness survey of partner merchants.
In the "2025 Awareness Survey of Merchants Using Food Delivery Apps," only 28.3% of respondents said they were satisfied with the level of fees, including platform commissions and delivery charges. Meanwhile, 33.4% said they were dissatisfied, and 38.2% responded that the fees were average.
By contrast, 63.2% said they were satisfied with their overall use of food delivery apps, confirming that fee levels are a major source of dissatisfaction.
Partner merchants were using an average of 2.3 food delivery apps. The app that generated the highest sales accounted for an average of 67.7% of their orders. The average platform commission rate was 8.2%.
This is a large gap compared with the average 4.5% commission rate that partner merchants consider appropriate.
Notably, in this survey there were no cases where merchants reported receiving the 2% commission rate included in the shared growth plan announced in November 2024. At that time, the food delivery apps had stated they would charge only 2% commission to partner merchants in the bottom 20% by transaction volume. However, it was not confirmed whether any merchants in this survey sample actually fell into that bottom 20% group.
Regarding delivery methods, 90.9% of orders were fulfilled using the apps’ own riders, accounting for the vast majority. In such cases, the average cost borne by partner merchants per order was 3,333 won, higher than the 2,808 won per order when using local delivery companies.
There was also a large gap compared with the average maximum delivery fee of 2,300 won that partner merchants considered appropriate.
Lee Eun-cheong, Director General for Win-Win Cooperation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We conducted this survey to assess perceptions of food delivery apps and to encourage win-win cooperation at a time when partner merchants are under heavy pressure from commission fees and other costs," adding, "Based on these results, we will work to create an environment where delivery platforms and partner merchants can grow together."

honestly82@fnnews.com Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter