Coupang marks record Q1 sales after NYSE listing
Coupang founder Kim Bom poses after his company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in March. Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
The country's largest online retailer Coupang reported record sales for the first quarter, Thursday, after making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in March.
The company said its quarterly sales reached $4.26 billion, or about 4.73 trillion won, up by 74 percent from a year ago. The figure is biggest achievement in any of Coupang's first-quarter sales figures.
At the same time, Coupang's number of active users ― those who have a record of purchasing an item through the online platform ― have soared by 21 percent to reach 16.03 million between January and March.
The average active user spending also skyrocketed by 44 percent to $262 in the first quarter from the previous year's $182. This has contributed to Coupang's largest sales record.
However, the online retailer's operating loss also increased by 180 percent to about 332.1 billion won.
Coupang attributed the loss to its rewarding of employees with stocks worth 10 billion won and on increased recruitment and human resources management.
“Coupang's sales growth continued in the first quarter of this year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out last year. At the same time, the company spent money on expanding fulfilment centers to improve the shopping experience for customers and invested in technology infrastructure,” a Coupang official said. “There are also costs that occurred while preparing for the IPO in New York.”
This is the first time Coupang has revealed its business performance since going public. Its stock price, which once skyrocketed to $69 after the listing, has come down to $35.33 on Thursday, down by 32.54 percent from the previous day's close.
Meanwhile, Coupang's new business division CEO Park Dae-joon said during an economic forum held by local press that Coupang expects to hire 6,500 employees through its 800 billion won investment in logistics centers.
Coupang is planning to build a large high-tech fulfillment center in Gwangju Metropolitan City that is the size of 22 soccer fields. The construction is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2023.