Convenience store CU said on the 29th it will unify its previously service-specific delivery carriers into LOTTE Global Logistics starting Jan. 1 next year to strengthen the quality of its parcel service.
The strategy is to streamline the previously fragmented delivery structure into one to improve business efficiency in line with steadily increasing demand for convenience store parcels each year, and to enhance service quality to provide customers with faster, more convenient service.
The key to this unification of delivery carriers is that delivery speed and reliability for standard parcels and half-price parcels (formerly thrifty parcels) will be the same. Standard parcels are delivered to the address the customer requests, while half-price parcels are delivered to the CU store where the customer will pick them up.
Half-price parcels had been relatively slow, taking up to six days in some cases, because they used CU's own logistics network. But starting next year, LOTTE Global Logistics will also handle half-price parcel volumes, sharply shortening the delivery period to up to three business days.
CU plans to keep the shipping rates for half-price parcels unchanged to ease customer costs. CU's half-price parcel rates are set at 1,800 won for up to 500g, 2,100 won for up to 1 kg, and 2,700 won for up to 5 kg.
In addition to "standard parcels" and "half-price parcels," CU's domestic parcel services currently include "visit parcels," where a courier comes directly to the requested location, and "next-day-guaranteed parcels," which offer ultra-fast delivery within 24 hours. The next-day-guaranteed service delivers items received before 6 p.m. each day straight to the place designated by the customer the following day, promoting ultra-fast delivery within 24 hours from dispatch to receipt.
Starting in January next year, CU will also expand the service area for next-day-guaranteed parcels. Launched in Apr. this year as an industry first, the service had been limited to Seoul, but in partnership with LOTTE Global Logistics it will expand to Incheon and the Gyeonggi capital region to improve customer access.
Yeon Jeong-uk, CEO of BGF Networks, said, "Through this unification of delivery carriers, we will be able to dramatically improve the quality of parcel services in ways consumers can tangibly feel by shortening delivery times and expanding coverage," adding, "CU will continue to evolve into the closest parcel platform in daily life through multifaceted service upgrades from the customer's perspective."