Coupang Selected as One of CNBC's 'Top 50 Innovative Companies' for Overcoming COVID-19

CNBC: "Coupang, Korea's Largest E-commerce Company Surpassing Amazon"
Sold 100 Million Price-Frozen Masks Last Month Alone... Equivalent to Selling 2 Masks to Every Citizen

Coupang's fresh food delivery service 'Rocket Fresh' eliminates delivery waste by using recyclable insulated bags.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Coupang announced on the 17th that it was ranked 2nd in the 'Top 50 Innovative Companies' announced by the US economic news channel CNBC. Every year, CNBC selects companies among the world's private companies that have significantly shaken up industries and markets and announces them as the 'Top 50 Innovative Companies.' Twitter, Xiaomi, SpaceX, and Spotify have been selected in the Top 50 Innovative Companies over the past seven years. Coupang is the first Korean company to be selected and achieved the highest ranking ever among Asian companies.

Regarding the reason for ranking Coupang 2nd, CNBC explained, "In recent months, Coupang has faced numerous challenges amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis. Koreans, advised to refrain from going out, began to rely much more on online shopping to order essential items such as masks and hand sanitizers. At this time, Coupang not only managed the surging demand while maintaining the existing level of service quality but also started providing even improved services. When order volumes surged sharply, Coupang expanded its dawn delivery and same-day delivery services and even increased the number of essential and fresh food items available for order." They especially praised Coupang's same-day and dawn delivery services for helping customers stay at home without going to crowded places. While other delivery services experienced delays during the COVID-19 crisis, Coupang's Rocket Delivery products had no delays.

The fresh food delivery service 'Rocket Fresh' was also evaluated as helpful to customers reluctant to go out due to COVID-19. Instead of going to crowded places to buy groceries daily, customers could stay home by using Rocket Fresh. Rocket Fresh grew more than sevenfold in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year while maintaining stable delivery.

Earlier, at the end of January, Coupang froze mask prices following the spread of COVID-19. This policy continues, and Coupang sold more than 100 million masks just last month. Additionally, during the COVID-19 period, Coupang accurately delivered daily essentials and groceries to one million households nationwide every day, helping customers reduce outings and lower the risk of COVID-19 infection.

With the surge in delivery volume, Coupang also introduced new methods to reduce packaging waste for the environment. They introduced the recyclable insulated bag 'Rocket Fresh Eco,' where customers take out the products and leave the empty insulated bag at their door; Coupang then collects, cleans, and reuses it with the next order. Furthermore, for non-fresh products, 85% of items were delivered without corrugated cardboard boxes, reducing waste. Moreover, amid rising unemployment and difficulties faced by self-employed businesses due to COVID-19, Coupang contributed to mitigating employment shocks by creating 20,000 additional jobs nationwide in the first quarter of this year alone.

Kim Beom-seok, CEO of Coupang, said, "Coupang's customers are accustomed to receiving their desired products within a few hours if they order before midnight, but overseas, this is seen as an enviable experience," adding, "Going forward, Coupang will continue to invest without hesitation to create even more amazing customer experiences and make these experiences feel like a natural part of everyday life."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.