At 10 pm, I logged in as I was leaving home carrying a cubic thermal bag on my back as usual. My phone and GoPro were fully charged. The Baemin AI quickly found an order for me. I accepted it without even checking what it was because I must—I heard from my interviewees that rejecting the first order of the day can lead to 20–30 minutes (or even the entire day) without a job. The call was from a nearby B Mart. I have been there several times so walked towards it without seeing a map. I clicked the “Arrived at a pick-up point” button as I was walking into a building in which the B Mart Seodaemun is located, and then I checked the display standing next to the shelves to see if my order was ready for pick-up. I found mine from numbered shelves and pulled out my phone to scan the QR code on a slip attached to the package to report that I picked it up. The package was heavier and larger than I anticipated and did not fit in my Baemin bag. I started moving to the customer’s apartment hand-carrying the package thinking, “I would have been in despair if I were travelling by bike”. While I was still on the way to the customer, my phone vibrated, and an orange toast appeared at the top of the screen—a new order! After having a quick scan of the order details and locations, I tapped “Accept” and switched back to the current delivery screen. As this customer wanted a contact-free delivery, I put the package in front of the door and took a photo of the package with the apartment number visible as required by the app, then tapped the reason for not delivering in person “It’s requested by the customer” and sent it. As soon as I clicked “Delivered”, a confetti animation appeared to congratulate me on the completion of my delivery. It said I earned 2,900 KRW (≈ 1.85 GBP). The map automatically zoomed in to highlight the next pickup location. Following this prompt, I started moving to do my second delivery. (Fieldnote, 2022, April 9)
The extract above from my fieldnotes presents 15 minutes of mobile life as a Baemin courier. It captures various digital, physical, and bodily components and practices that come together into a distinct infrastructural assemblage that enables delivery with Baemin. I became a Baemin courier and a part of the infrastructure by carrying a Baemin-branded thermal bag and logging into the Baemin Connect app. I additionally carried a GoPro on my chest as a dash cam, a widespread practice among couriers in case of any troubles or accidents. Constant courier–app interactions on the move are prominent. As captured in the extract, the Baemin Connect app is central to shaping couriers’ behaviours and the continuous coordination of movements of couriers and food. The app instructs all Baemin couriers to follow a particular set of steps and protocols, prompts them to report progress in real time, and instantly rewards them (on screen) upon completing every delivery. It also attempts to assign a new order even before the preceding order is completed. Furthermore, the extract points to the new infrastructure Baemin has built with an aim to transform the urban grocery shopping practice. B Mart is an example of new infrastructure that Baemin has created for faster grocery delivery and ultimately transforms urban food shopping and mobility practices. B Mart, Baemin’s dark store or a micro-fulfilment centre, is a small storage facility that resembles a supermarket but is not open to the public. Dark stores are located across the city to enable quick delivery of groceries or goods ordered online to end customers. Dark sites such as B Mart and dark kitchens are invisible yet critical nodes, together with couriers and apps in Baemin’s delivery network, contributing to smart city infrastructures in the making.
Becoming a Baemin Connect courier required substantial financial investments and continuous bodily effort. Having learned a bike, a helmet, and a bag were not sufficient from my own experience and interviews with fellow couriers, I purchased a phone mount, two locks, bike repair tools, front and rear lights, a power bank, and a small bag to store the power bank and locks. I did a few hours of a test ride on a new bike before going out for delivery because I needed to make my bike part of my body to perform deliveries. Over several months of occasional deliveries, I got used to delivery tasks and learned new skills. With increased geographical knowledge about the area—two districts in central Seoul, it became easier to navigate streets with some help from a navigation app. I could more quickly identify the correct entrance to massive commercial buildings and apartments. When the address was not marked clearly on the building, I would quickly scan the letters in a post box. While taking a lift, instead of just idling, I would take out food from the bag and double-check the customer requirements and get the camera ready if I were making a contact-free delivery. These controlled movements helped save time. Through repetition, I began to execute a sequence of acts automatically. I had built a small amount of delivery muscle. By the end of fieldwork, I had delivered over a hundred orders on foot and by bike. In addition to delivery tips, I earned several badges including, ‘Hi-five for 50 deliveries’ and ‘Night Owl Rider’.