SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s e-commerce sector saw a challenging 2024, with economic pressures leading to reduced consumer spending across platforms. Despite these headwinds and competition from Chinese e-commerce players like AliExpress and Temu, Coupang and SSG.com maintained strong customer loyalty, according to data released on January 26 by analytics firm IGAWorks. SSG.com [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Members of South Korea’s National Assembly sharply criticized Coupang Inc.’s founder Kim Bom-suk for his absence from a parliamentary hearing on January 21 focused on improving working conditions for the e-commerce giant’s delivery workers, particularly regarding late-night labor practices. The hearing, held by the Environment and Labor Committee, was attended [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Coupang, one of South Korea’s largest e-commerce companies, has admitted to maintaining an employment blacklist affecting over 16,000 individuals, following revelations by MBC in February 2024. This marks the first time the company has publicly acknowledged the controversial list, which allegedly barred reemployment of workers and even included journalists critical [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 15, 2025 — South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor has ruled that Coupang delivery drivers, known as Quick Flexers, are not classified as employees under the Labor Standards Act, effectively ending allegations of illegal subcontracting against the e-commerce giant. The decision follows an investigation prompted by the death of delivery driver Jeong [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Shinsegae Group and China’s Alibaba Group have joined forces to form a strategic e-commerce alliance, a move that has drawn close attention from Coupang, South Korea’s market leader in online retail. The partnership, announced on January 6, could significantly alter the competitive dynamics of the e-commerce sector. Coupang’s senior [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Coupang announced on December 12 the launch of a “Safety Mark” system to help customers identify official communications from the company and prevent phishing scams. The Safety Mark will appear on text messages sent from Coupang’s official customer service number (1577-7011) and includes the company’s logo, a shield symbol [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is taking action against Coupang, Naver, and Market Kurly for allegedly hindering consumers from canceling their paid memberships. Coupang, in particular, faces additional scrutiny for using deceptive “dark patterns” in its membership pricing and cancellation processes. Coupang’s “Wow Membership” program allegedly made mid-term cancellations [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – With Alex Wong, a former Coupang executive, emerging as a key figure in the Trump administration’s North Korea policy, attention is turning to the multinational workforce at South Korea’s e-commerce giant, where foreign employees now exceed 1,000 and include more than 250 full-time interpreters and translators. Foreign nationals make up [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – In a significant move that cements his position among South Korea’s most successful entrepreneurs, Bom Kim, the founder and executive chairman of Coupang, has announced plans for a major stock sale, fourteen years after founding the company and three years after its landmark NYSE debut. Kim, who moved to the [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s antitrust regulator has disclosed details of how Coupang, the country’s leading e-commerce platform, analyzed vendors’ product data to develop competing private-label merchandise, according to documents released on October 29. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) revealed in its ruling that Coupang systematically studied suppliers’ production processes and sales [...]