South Korea’s auto mogul Hyundai Motor Group has joined hands with Hyundai Department Store Group to make an inroad into the country’s burgeoning quick-commerce market by offering the country’s leading retailer its EV trucks as mobile micro fulfillment centers for 30-minute delivery.

Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Motor announced on Sunday that they are launching a superfast 30-minute delivery service for fresh food items this month on Hyundai Department Store’s delivery application “Hyundai to Home” to better meet growing online demand for high-quality fresh food. The service will be operated on a trial basis at the department store’s main branch in Apgujeong in southern Seoul until October and will be gradually expanded to other branches, the groups said.

Under the partnership, Hyundai’s auto-making group will provide logistics solutions by supplying vehicles, terminals and platforms and the retailer will be in charge of handling orders, payment and customer service.

Hyundai Motor will deploy four eco-friendly Porter EVs for the service to test them as logistics vehicles. The trucks will be touring a radius of 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) around the Apgujeong main branch carrying 60 kinds of fresh food products and when a customer places an order via “Hyundai To Home”, one that is closest to the destination will make delivery within 30 minutes.

Hyundai Motor’s EV trucks will serve as mobile micro-fulfillment centers (MFC) for Hyundai Department Store’s fresh food items as well as delivery vehicles, which help the partners reduce the cost of building new logistics centers and ensure faster delivery.

Hyundai Motor Group will take this opportunity to speed up transition into a smart mobility solution provider at a time when demand for online delivery services is growing rapidly. It will also expedite the development of self-driving delivery solutions to lead future logistics business, the group said.

With the launch of the new service, Hyundai Department Store Group plans to cement its leadership in the premium online fresh food market. “What differentiates us from other distributors is that we guarantee both speed and quality,” said an official at Hyundai Department Store Group.

By Park Dae-eui, Park Yun-gu and Lee Soo-min

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]