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| SSG.com CEO Choi Jung-woo delivers an opening speech during an NE.O 002 logistics center press tour in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of SSG.com |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
SSG.com, the online shopping mall of Shinsegae Group, will roll out a "dawn delivery" service, betting on the fast-growing online delivery market of fresh goods, the company said Tuesday.
The service allows orders to be placed as late as midnight with deliveries guaranteed to arrive by 6 a.m. the next day. Daily necessities and fresh food products are among the most popular items, according to SSG.com.
In recent years, fast delivery services have reshaped Koreans' shopping habits, amid the increasing number of working moms, single-person households and those who prefer premium groceries delivered by Coupang, Market Kurly and others.
The latest move also comes in line with Shinsegae Group Vice President Chung Yong-jin's plan to increase annual sales of its e-commerce unit fivefold to 10 trillion won by 2023.
"Buoyed by the fact that our NE.O logistics centers are equipped with automation facilities, and stock prediction and management systems, we hope to get the upper hand with our dawn deliveries," said Choi Woo-jung, CEO of SSG.com.
"To distinguish ourselves from other online grocery service providers, we have doubled the selection of items and developed an insulated bag to reduce packaging waste," he added.
For the moment, the dawn delivery service will be available in ten districts in Seoul, including Gangseo, Yangcheon, Yongsan, Seocho and Gangnam starting June 27.
However, the company promised to expand the service to other regions within this year.
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| An insulated bag developed by SSG.com / Courtesy of SSG.com |
The construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, and will become the third Next Generation Online Store (NE.O).
SSG.com currently runs logistics centers in Yongin and Gimpo, which are equipped with automation facilities, a transport management system and warehouses. The company ultimately aims to set up a system to deliver products within three hours.
The NE.O 002 logistics center has the capability to process up to 50,000 units per day and ensures delivery of 31,000 fresh foods and other daily necessities.
Following the construction of the NE.O 003 logistics center with cold chain systems, which manage stock in a temperature-controlled supply chain, the company expects to beat its rivals.
"We plan to expand our dawn delivery service to additional regions across the country within this year after the NE.O 003 opens in December," an SSG.com official said.
