Coupang is an e-commerce and logistics giant in Korea. It’s quickly expanding into food delivery, entertainment, financial services and also more countries. The company “exists to deliver new moments of wow for customers,” which is why its membership program is called “WOW.” Coupang’s product commerce offerings include its budding marketplace and fulfillment business.
Coupang has two selling formats for their merchants. First, they operate a traditional marketplace where 3rd-party merchants can list their products. A big piece of this is Fulfillment & Logistics by Coupang (FLC). FLC is quickly growing as a percentage of its overall product offering and business. It’s very similar to Amazon’s 3rd-party seller business in that it allows merchants selling through its platform to use Coupang’s world-class network. Coupang does all of the storage, packing, shipping and returns for them so they can enjoy the same conversion-optimizing assets that Coupang has painstakingly built through large infrastructure investments – without enduring the hefty, risky CapEx to get there. It also has a 1st-party business. Here, it buys goods from brands and other supply chain partners via wholesale arrangements to enrich and strengthen its e-commerce site’s assortment.
Rocket delivery is a WOW service where Coupang taps into all of its logistics capacity to power its own quick delivery. Rocket relies on Coupang’s fulfillment network to place more inventory closer to customers, which cuts cost to serve, shortens delivery times and raises conversion rates. In turn, that fosters unique operating efficiencies that unlock more investment in differentiated customer service. As all of these competitive advantages compound, it finds itself able to keep improving the user experience, pushing engagement higher and spinning the flywheel.
Developing offerings include everything else. Its food delivery business, streaming product, Taiwan endeavor, Farfetch and all other new bets preside here.