With annual sales of nearly 280 billion, this giant continues to lead South Korea

In South Korea's fiercely competitive market, competition among e-commerce platforms is becoming increasingly fierce.

Whether it is South Korea's more influential e-commerce platforms such as Coupang, Naver, 11Street, Gmarket, etc., or China's cross-border e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress and Temu, they have all contributed significantly to the prosperity of this e-commerce market.

Just last year, Coupang, one of South Korea's largest e-commerce platforms, achieved a record high in transaction volume, with surprising figures that were higher than previously expected.

With annual sales of 275.4 billion yuan, Coupang continues to lead in South Korea

Not long ago, WiseApp Retail, an application and retail analysis service company, released some data about Coupang. The data showed that in 2024, Coupang's annual transaction volume hit a record high , expected to reach 55.08 trillion won (about 275.4 billion yuan) , an increase of 23.6% over last year , far exceeding the industry average .

Not only did Coupang perform well in 2024, but it has also maintained a good growth momentum in the previous few years and has huge development potential.

Coupang has now become the largest online marketplace in South Korea , and the number of its sellers has grown rapidly. In 2015, there were only 12,000 sellers, but by the first half of 2023, this number had directly exceeded 210,000, which shows its popularity in the Korean e-commerce market.

Coupang leads South Korea in both annual transaction volume and number of users. There must be a reason behind its achievement.

In recent years, the prospects of South Korea's e-commerce market have become increasingly bright. ‌In 2024, South Korea's e-commerce transaction volume hit a new high‌. It is predicted that in 2024 , the total value of South Korea's e-commerce market will reach 164.3 trillion won (about 821.5 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 10.2%.

In the next four years, South Korea's e-commerce market is expected to continue to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8%. By 2028, the market size is expected to reach 222.1 trillion won (about 111.05 billion yuan).

The continuous development of the Korean e-commerce market and Coupang's continued expansion of its own advantages are the "lubricants" that help Coupang dominate the Korean e-commerce market.

In recent years, Coupang's business coverage has gradually expanded, and it has achieved good results in logistics, food delivery and other fields.

Logistics is one of Coupang's trump cards. Previously , Coupang announced that it would continue to expand the coverage of its rocket delivery service and achieve the goal of "rocket delivery to 50 million people" by 2027 .

In the face of fiercely competitive market environment, improving logistics efficiency has increasingly become the key for major platforms to break through. Not only Coupang has increased its investment in the logistics field, but other Korean e-commerce platforms have also spared no effort.

Recently, South Korean e-commerce company Naver announced that it will optimize and upgrade its logistics services, renaming the original "Naver Arrival Guarantee" to "Naver Delivery", and adding a variety of new transportation methods, including same-day delivery, next-day delivery, Sunday delivery and scheduled delivery.

Gmarket , another South Korean e-commerce giant , has also made efforts in the logistics field and has launched a 7-day-a-week delivery service in cooperation with CJ Logistics.

In addition to logistics, Coupang also pays attention to user preferences and experience. By deeply analyzing user shopping preferences and needs, it accurately grasps user psychology, effectively attracts new users, retains old users, and continuously injects vitality into the platform.

In addition, Coupang has also invested a lot in technological innovation and other aspects , introducing advanced algorithms and technical means to bring users a more personalized and convenient shopping experience.

It is worth mentioning that South Korea's food delivery market is booming. In 2024, the annual transaction volume of Coupang Eats, Coupang's food delivery app, is expected to increase by 143% and reach 5.11 trillion won (about 25.55 billion yuan).

In 2024, the payment amount of Coupang Eats was 270 billion won (about 1.35 billion yuan) in January . By October , this figure had soared to 497.9 billion won (about 2.489 billion yuan) , a significant increase, and this growth momentum is expected to continue in the future .

The joys and sorrows of e-commerce platforms are not the same

Some are happy while others are worried. Of course, there are profitable Korean e-commerce companies like Coupang , but some e-commerce platforms are in dire straits, and they are not having a good time in 2024.

South Korean e-commerce platform 11Street recently released its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024 and fiscal year 2024.

Data shows that in the fourth quarter of 2024 , 11Street's sales reached 133.9 billion won (about 670 million yuan), and the company's operating loss reached 23 billion won (about 115 million yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 34%.

For the whole year, 11Street's sales were 561.8 billion won (about 2.809 billion yuan) , a 35% decline from the previous year . The company achieved an EBITDA surplus for the whole year , and has maintained operating profit for 11 consecutive months since March 2024, which is a good sign .

In addition, the company's operating loss in 2024 reached 75.4 billion won (about 377 million yuan) , a decrease of 40% from 125.8 billion won (about 629 million yuan) in 2023 .

Although the data performance in 2024 shows that losses have been reduced and profitability has improved to a certain extent, the future of 11Street is still full of uncertainty.

First of all, the giant Coupang is far ahead of other local e-commerce platforms in South Korea. In addition, the internal competition among local e-commerce platforms in South Korea has intensified. In addition, more and more Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms have set up operations in South Korea, further compressing the market space.

Secondly, 11Street's losses are the result of multiple factors, including pressure from external competition and possible problems in its internal operations.

Coupang has always occupied an absolute market share with its complete logistics infrastructure and low commission rate. Previously, 11Street's users also lost to Coupang, and the proportion was relatively high, which reflects that its platform is not attractive enough.

In addition to competition from local e-commerce platforms, China's cross-border e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress and Temu are also actively increasing their investment in the Korean market .

Data shows that as of November 2024, Temu's cumulative new downloads reached 18.04 million times, making it the application with the highest number of new downloads among adults in South Korea in 2024. AliExpress ranked fifth with 6.58 million times.

In December 2024 , Temu topped the list of newly downloaded apps in South Korea, with new installations reaching 1.177 million times , and its popularity in South Korea continued to increase .

Other data shows that in 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce transaction volume in South Korea exceeded US$2.7 billion (approximately RMB 19.594 billion), a year-on-year increase of 85%, showing a rapid growth trend.

Market competition has always existed, but the value of the Korean e-commerce market will continue to rise. Complete e-commerce infrastructure, a large consumer group, consumers who are keen on online shopping, etc. are all promoting the positive development of the e-commerce market and bringing new development opportunities for sellers who want to seek development in the Korean market.

Coupang

11Street