GS Fresh Mall gets into the one-hour delivery game

A promotional image shows how to order products on the GS Fresh Mall application, getting them in an hour. [GS RETAIL]

GS Fresh Mall, GS Retail’s online grocery shopping service, will start offering one-hour deliveries Thursday.

Customers who order via GS Fresh Mall’s application will be able to get their orders delivered within an hour. The products will be delivered from nearby GS The Fresh branches, which are run by GS Retail.

Some 140 GS The Fresh branches directly operated by GS Retail will serve as the delivery hubs. The company will discuss with other franchisees and plans to use all its branches as delivery hubs in the future.

Orders are taken between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. every day and the minimum order is 10,000 won.

“Although various online shopping malls are aiming to improve their delivery services, it isn’t as easy due to big-scale investments that are needed,” said a spokesperson for GS Retail. “GS Fresh Mall was able to quickly offer the service due to cooperation with GS The Fresh.”

GS Fresh Mall will also allow customers to select certain future order dates. Customers will be able to select any time within the following three days.

“The new delivery model is GS Retail’s first project since we restructured our business,” said Ahn Byeong-hoon, head of GS Fresh Mall’s business unit. “We plan to continue to create synergies and enhance competitiveness.”

Although dawn deliveries, or getting products delivered by early morning the next day, used to be the biggest trend in retail, companies are moving to provide quick commerce deliveries, or deliveries within an hour.

“Dawn deliveries required investments in coldchain facilities and already had various companies in the market, making it hard for companies to report profits,” said Jung Cue-jin, an analyst at SK Investment & Securities. “But quick commerce doesn’t need extra investments when companies use existing retail branches as their delivery hubs.”

Other retailers are also choosing to offer quick commerce deliveries.

Emart started offering one-hour deliveries through SSG Go in April, although deliveries are only offered to customers in Gangnam and Seocho in southern Seoul. Homeplus also offers a similar service, with products picked up from various Homeplus discount stores nationwide.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]