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More families than ever before dialing in weekend orders
Thanks to the implementation of a five-day workweek in South Korea and an increase in kitchen-to-door services by restaurants, the growth rate for the delivered food market is skyrocketing. Pizza restaurants are showing the most visible sales growth in the delivery market, at a rate of 20 to 30 percent annually, from 800 billion won (800 million USD) in 2004, 1 trillion won in 2005, and 1.2 trillion won this year. More than half of pizzas sold in South Korea in 2005 were delivered to their buyers, and experts expect about 60 percent of this year’s pizzas will be sold in the same way. Such phenomenal growth was largely made possible by the families dialing for pizzas on weekends, thanks to the five-day workweek, put in place in 2003. Previously, most companies required employees to work six days a week.The increase of delivery orders brought takeout-only Domino’s and Papa John’s whopping sales growths in recent years. Pizza Hut, Mr. Pizza, and others who had previously focused on serving their pies in-house are beefing up their delivery services. A manager from Domino’s said, "In the U.S., 90 percent of pizza orders are for delivery. The Korean market for delivery pizzas will grow even larger," he predicted. BBQ, which serves its fried chicken by delivery only, saw their yearly sales growth rate go from 15 percent to 20 percent after the five-day-workweek was implemented. KFC, Lotteria, McDonalds and other fast food restaurants were also cashing in on the trend. For the first time in its global franchise, KFC opened a delivery-only restaurant in Bangi-Dong, Seoul, in January this year. Depending on how this endeavor turns out, they will decide if they will go for more of the kind. Lotteria provides delivery services through their restaurants, and delivery orders are especially picking up at outlets located near large apartments, shopping areas, and primary schools. "In the case of our restaurant located at Lotte World, we introduced delivery services and other features in relation to the shops nearby, such as handing out discount flyers at the ice rink inside Lotte World and selling kid’s meal toys outside the restaurant. It helped the restaurant’s sales go up," says Jangmook Lee, the marketing manager at Lotteria. As the call for food delivery has increased, even the family restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon. JOYS, a newly-risen family restaurant franchise with 100 outlets nationwide, delivers dishes that traditionally are served only by sit-down restaurants, including ribs and steaks. T.G.I. Friday’s will deliver your order if your bill is larger than 100,000 won and if you are located nearby. Korea’s largest coffee shop franchise, Starbucks, also started its own delivery service last year. For 50,000 won and above orders placed a day before, their staff will bring drinks and pastries and set them up at the designated location. Many offices and conferences have called in for the catering service, with orders numbering 4,234 last year; the number is already at 4,383 this year so far. "The competition in the restaurant business has become fiercer," said Yang Jae-sun, the marketing manager at Starbucks. "Rather than just sitting there and waiting for the customers to come, the restaurants are getting out there, actively going to where the customers are."
