Coupang Achieves 'Rocket Growth' Through Win-Win Partnership with Small and Medium-Sized Merchants

580 Billion KRW Investment for Win-Win with Small and Medium Merchants
Transaction Volume of Tenant Small and Medium Merchants Doubled in 3 Years

Amid growing concerns among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners due to rising raw material prices caused by inflation and slowing consumption, sales of SMEs listed on Coupang have actually increased rapidly. This appears to be influenced by Coupang's vast user base and logistics infrastructure enabling fast delivery speeds.

Coupang recently announced that it recorded sales of 6.35 trillion KRW in the second quarter of this year, marking a 27% growth compared to the same period last year. Despite a slowdown in the global e-commerce industry due to reopening, the significant role of SMEs listed on Coupang was credited for sustaining high growth. As these businesses expanded their sales channels through Coupang, a 'win-win' effect emerged with Coupang's sales volume also increasing.

Sales of SMEs listed on Coupang are indeed rapidly increasing. According to Coupang's recently published '2022 Impact Report,' the number of small business owners listed as of the end of last year was 157,000, and their transaction volume reached 8.1 trillion KRW last year, nearly doubling compared to 2019. Coupang's sales rose from 7.153 trillion KRW to 22.2257 trillion KRW during the same period. This shows continuous growth despite COVID-19 and inflation.

To promote mutual growth with SMEs and small business owners, Coupang invested more than 570 billion KRW last year alone to support activities such as special promotions. For example, it conducted campaigns to help thousands of restaurant small business owners in traditional markets enter online e-commerce. Through this, sales recorded by traditional market merchants listed on Coupang Eats increased by 435% over the past year, and order volume rose by 412%.

A representative case of overcoming the COVID-19 crisis by joining Coupang Rocket Fresh is the seafood company 'Haewon SD.' Established in 2012, Haewon SD is a wholesale company that directly harvests seafood such as shrimp and octopus from Taean, Chungnam, and Geoje, Gyeongnam, and sells them to large supermarkets. It faced a crisis as transactions with franchise restaurants stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but after starting 'direct-from-origin' sales through Rocket Fresh, delivering products shipped from production sites by 7 a.m. the next day earlier this year, sales have surged again. Haewon SD's annual sales this year are expected to increase by 30% compared to last year. Seonamjin, CEO of Haewon SD, said, "Coupang's logistics method of placing 'mini logistics centers' near shipping sites enabled next-day early morning delivery, which helped improve freshness."

Coupang plans to continue growth based on mutual prosperity with SMEs and small business owners. Kim Beom-seok, Chairman of Coupang, said during the Q2 earnings conference call, "More than 90% of SMEs listed on Coupang Open Market use Coupang's Rocket Delivery logistics system," adding, "The growth rate of listed companies will exponentially increase in the future."

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