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Coupang posts 20% quarterly sales growth, driven by strong performance in Taiwan
A Coupang delivery worker sorts packages inside his truck, Tuesday. Korea Times file
By Ko Dong-hwan
Logistics expansion in Taiwan fuels business
Coupang posted 12.8 trillion won ($8.87 billion) in sales for the third quarter on Wednesday, up 20 percent from a year earlier, driven by strong growth in Taiwan where revenue jumped 31 percent.
The country’s largest e-commerce platform operator has now achieved 20 percent quarterly sales growth for three consecutive quarters, underscoring its robust performance both at home and abroad.
Contributing factors include Coupang’s continued investment in enhancing its logistics and fulfillment systems, as well as improving convenience for online vendors on its platform. The company’s physical expansion of logistics facilities in Taiwan, where it offers its Rocket Delivery service, also played a key role in boosting sales in the country.
Founder and CEO Bom Kim said during a conference call that Coupang increased the number of vendors and brands participating in Rocket Delivery during the past quarter, but added that most of the products in the service’s catalog are still not supplied directly by their producers.
“There’s still a tremendous runway ahead. Many products in our first-party catalog aren’t yet sourced directly from brand partners. Deepening those direct relationships will allow us to provide more choice, better value and greater convenience for our customers,” Kim said.
Kim added that the quarterly growth also stemmed from Coupang’s investments in automation technologies across its logistics and fulfillment systems, which in turn improved service quality. He said the system upgrade under Fulfillment and Logistics by Coupang (FLC) remains in its early stages, but that technological and process innovations have already started to enhance efficiency and service reliability.
Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim / Courtesy of Coupang
“We’re only beginning to unlock FLC’s full potential. We’re making massive investments in FLC to bring more convenience and savings to merchants, which in turn brings more selection, convenience and savings for our customers. This allows us to expand deeper into newer categories like furniture, fashion and sporting goods,” Kim said.
Coupang has also broadened its eco-friendly operations by expanding the use of recyclable eco-bags to a larger group of customers. The initiative, previously limited to refrigerated and frozen deliveries, reflects the company’s effort to enhance sustainability in its packaging and logistics.
Kim attributed the company’s rapid growth in Taiwan to the swift expansion of product selection and the establishment of a “last-mile” logistics base in the country. Coupang recently began rolling out a third-party marketplace there, allowing outside vendors to sell their products directly on the Coupang platform — a move Kim said will “significantly expand selection.”
Regarding the last-mile network, Kim said the team made “impressive progress” during the last quarter.
“We’ve seen significant growth in the share of our volume being delivered through our own last-mile logistics, creating the potential for us to approach the levels of speed and reliability that customers have come to expect from Coupang in Korea,” Kim said.
Coupang Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Anand said the company’s business in Taiwan grew “sharply by triple digits,” due partly to rising demand for Coupang Eats, its food delivery platform.