A file photo of a Coupang logistics center (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A number of civic groups have accused e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. of mobilizing its employees to write false reviews for the company’s private brand products.
Six civic groups, including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, held a press conference on Tuesday, announcing that they would file a report with the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Coupang’s violation of the Fair Trade Act and the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising.
The activists claimed that Coupang and its subsidiary Coupang Private Label Business (CPLB) forced employees to write reviews for the company’s private brand products since July, without offering any compensation.
“We believe that Coupang sought to manipulate the number of reviews and bring PB products more exposure,” they said.
The PB products in question include some 4,200 products made by CPLB’s 16 private brands.
According to the accusations, a customer suspected to be a Coupang employee bought 600 masks in just 30 some days and 210 liters of cat litter over 38 days to post reviews.
The civic groups claimed that a normal customer wouldn’t engage in such abnormal transactions.
“99.9 percent of all Coupang reviews are written by the customers themselves,” Coupang responded. “If these civic groups continue to insist on their false claims, we will consider taking legal action.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
