WSJ "Market Kurly Next After Coupang Enters US Stock Market"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] South Korean grocery delivery company Market Kurly is reportedly discussing a listing on the New York Stock Exchange following its competitor Coupang's IPO.

On the 11th (local time), according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Market Kurly CEO Kim Seul-ah stated that she is discussing plans for an IPO within the year with financial institutions.

CEO Kim said, "All the products that Market Kurly carefully selects and sells are items we have personally tasted," adding, "Over the past six years, we have reviewed about 35,000 products and filtered out approximately 15,000."

She further added that rather than expanding into other product categories, the company plans to focus on the food sector.

Founded in 2014, Market Kurly is estimated to have a valuation of about 1 trillion won.

WSJ cited internal Market Kurly data indicating that the repurchase rate of Market Kurly users is 60%, significantly higher than the industry average of 29%.

According to research firm Euromonitor, South Korea is considered the country with the largest e-commerce expenditure, with about 52% of all purchases, including groceries, occurring online.

In particular, South Korea's e-commerce market flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic, growing by 26% in 2020 compared to the previous year.

WSJ stated, "South Korea's online shopping market, the fifth largest in the world, is expected to reach $116 billion this year, growing 11% from the previous year," highlighting the strength of the Korean online market, including stable delivery through its own logistics system.

American e-commerce company Amazon has been building its own delivery service for over 10 years but still relies heavily on external providers such as UPS and the United States Postal Service (USPS) for a significant portion of its deliveries.

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