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| Vehicles affected by heavy rainfall on Monday night are strewn across a road in Seocho district on Tuesday. Newsis |
By Kim Jae-heun
Local e-commerce firms' overnight delivery services early Tuesday were disrupted by the heaviest rainfall in 80 years in the capital region of Korea, according to company officials.
Market Kurly notified all of its customers that it was unable to deliver a number of online orders on Tuesday morning due to the closure of roads in Seoul and surrounding areas.
"For the safety of our drivers, we asked them to drive slowly and we have notified our customers their items will arrive late. For customers who live in districts where many roads have been engulfed in water, we have refunded their orders," a Market Kurly official said.
Another online grocery firm Oasis also had to postpone 30 percent of their overnight deliveries on Tuesday. The company asked for customers' understanding in the face of the natural disaster, notifying them individually.
Coupang is still watching the flood situation across the country. It has restarted its delivery service in areas where rains have ceased since the morning.
"We believe our service will return to normal from tomorrow if there is no heavy rainfall tonight," a Coupang official said.
SSG.com, Shinsegae's online shopping mall platform, has suspended overnight delivery in Gangnam, one of the worst affected areas. It resumed its delivery service as of Tuesday afternoon as many roads were reopened.
Lotte ON posted a notification on its website on Tuesday that its delivery service from Lotte Super Fresh store in Seocho was suspended as the area had been harshly affected by flooding.
BGF Retail's 200 stores in the capital area suspended business operations due to heavy rain and only 10 branches are open as of Tuesday.
"There has been considerable damage to our stores in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province but they are protected under our insurance so our franchisees will face no financial disadvantage," a BGF Retail official said.
