<Anchor>
As the proportion of sales through delivery grows, the self-employed are being greatly affected by delivery app policies.
It's a way to get paid every time a consumer clicks on your ad, even if it doesn't lead to an order for food.
Reporter Jae Hee-won reports.
<Reporter>
One-third of this cafe's daily sales come from delivery apps.
Monthly advertising costs for multiple delivery apps alone amount to hundreds of thousands of won.
Recently, the industry's No. 1 Baedal Minjok posted a notice announcing a new advertising product.
[Kim Seong-ho/Café President: Suddenly one day I turn on (app) and it just comes out.
(Advertising) Pre-booking.
General Baemin flag (advertising fee) goes out, and every time Baemin 1 comes in, a fee goes out.
'My Neighborhood Click' (when) now, money goes out every time you click...
.]
If you pay in the form of a deposit, your store will be more exposed on the first screen of the app and in search results.
When a consumer clicks on the store, even if there is no order, 200~600 won per transaction is deducted from the deposit.
[Salad shop president: (in the app) Ordering is all about money.
(The frequency of exposure to the store) is very important.
It feels too strong to sell, to be honest.]
Many self-employed people already use advertisements that display their store name at the top of the search screen, but they say that it is difficult to ignore additional advertisements.
[Kim Seong-ho/Café President: It’s called a choice, but if you don’t actually make a choice…
It's raining, how can I not use an umbrella?]
Baemin explained that it is just a product for business owners who want to advertise more, and that other Internet platforms are also running similar advertisements that charge a fee per click.
[Lee Jeong-hee / Professor, Department of Economics, Chung-Ang University: (Already) In the delivery market, the middleman is in the top position.
If the No. 1 company in the industry does something, (the rest of the companies) follow it, so the (brokerage) cost can keep rising.]
A self-employed group ended Baemin's single delivery discount event and implemented additional advertisements. The controversy is not likely to subside easily as they are going to file a class action lawsuit by defining their back as tyranny of the delivery app.
(Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol, CG: Kang Yu-ra, VJ: Jeong Young-sam)