Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
South Korea's Coupang Inc. - statistics & facts
South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. is known as the Korean Amazon and was founded in 2010. Coupang has quickly developed to become the largest open market and one of the leading online shopping platforms in South Korea. Customers can order a variety of products from Coupang, from daily necessities to groceries, fashion, and even electronics. These items are either Coupangs private brand items or those of a seller using Coupang as a sales platform.
One of Coupang’s special features is its growing number of next-day delivery items, which customers can receive in the early morning of the next day. To secure fast deliveries for this Rocket delivery service, Coupang operates more than 150 distribution centers and hires drivers both directly and via subcontractors.
Coupang Play is the company’s over-the-top (OTT) video service that launched in December 2020. Although it is a rather new service it managed to secure the rights to stream some live sports events exclusively, even the Tokyo Olympic games. With exclusive content, as well as the fact that the service is included in the Coupang membership fee, Coupang Play viewer numbers are increasing.
According to founder Kim Beom-seok, the company previously had no plans to extend its services internationally. However, it has started expanding into the Japanese, Singaporean, and Taiwanese markets after its initial public offering in March 2021.
With Coupang being the leading mobile shopping app in South Korea, it comes as no surprise that the frequency of shopping at Coupang was rather high, with almost half of South Korean customers ordering from there at least a few times a week.
Coupang’s service expansion
Following the example of Amazon, Coupang started extending its services into other sectors as well. Besides open market-related services such as Coupang fresh or the membership program Coupang WOW, which grants costless deliveries among other features, it launched the food delivery service Coupang Eats in 2019, enjoying consistently rising user numbers.Coupang Play is the company’s over-the-top (OTT) video service that launched in December 2020. Although it is a rather new service it managed to secure the rights to stream some live sports events exclusively, even the Tokyo Olympic games. With exclusive content, as well as the fact that the service is included in the Coupang membership fee, Coupang Play viewer numbers are increasing.
According to founder Kim Beom-seok, the company previously had no plans to extend its services internationally. However, it has started expanding into the Japanese, Singaporean, and Taiwanese markets after its initial public offering in March 2021.
Coupang user behavior
As the internet penetration rate in South Korea is very high, most consumers have shopped online and purchased products via mobile shopping rather frequently. This includes all types of non-perishable consumer goods, like consumer electronics or fashion items, as well as online grocery shopping.With Coupang being the leading mobile shopping app in South Korea, it comes as no surprise that the frequency of shopping at Coupang was rather high, with almost half of South Korean customers ordering from there at least a few times a week.
Nina Jobst
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Dec 20, 2023
Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
