Coupang Facing a Crisis: More People Join Boycott as the Bare Face of Coupang Is Exposed

[경향신문]

“We Denounce Coupang Eats” in Front of Company Headquarters: Members of the Hope for People’s Livelihood Headquarters of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the National Network for Economic Democratization, and the Korea Franchisee Union take a moment to silently pray before a press conference in front of Coupang headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul on June 22. Participants denounced the online retailer arguing that the review and rating policy of Coupang Eats, a food delivery application, created malicious and irrational consumers often referred to in Korea as “black consumers.” Park Min-gyu, Senior Reporter

More and more consumers are boycotting Coupang after a fire broke out at one of the online retailer’s logistics center. On the Internet, people are sharing pictures confirming the cancellation of their Coupang membership and informing others on the membership cancellation procedure. In person, restaurant owners held a press conference condemning the review and rating policy of Coupang Eats, a food delivery platform, which does not reflect the views of the restaurants. Experts also claim that the corporate culture needs to change to meet the eye-level of consumers, who have become more sensitive to the social responsibility of corporations.

On June 22, one person tweeted on Twitter, “The Coupang website has hidden the membership cancellation link, so it was difficult to find out how to withdraw my membership without searching for it on the Internet,” and explained how people could cancel their Coupang memberships. More than 170,000 posts with the hashtag “withdraw Coupang membership” popped up on Twitter on June 19 alone, when people began boycotting Coupang.

Businesses that sell their products on Coupang also joined the latest movement. At Seller Ocean, a Naver community of storeowners who sell their products on Coupang, a post was displayed claiming, “We were displeased with Coupang’s attitude, for they treat sellers like we belong at the bottom of the pyramid, and we plan to end business with the company after the latest incident.” Another post went on to state, “If a product sells well, they just begin making their own PB products (private label products whose brand is owned by the retailer).”

Consumers are cancelling their Coupang membership for a variety of reasons. One person who recently withdrew her membership wrote on social media, “They say the company exploits the delivery personnel and takes away the performance of the restaurants and stores. And even the response by management… I decided that overall, I should boycott the company.” Some voices mentioned their growing disappointment at the poor working environment of the Coupang delivery workers. “I will stop using their services and withdraw my membership so as not to take part in the exploitation of labor and murder by willful negligence by Coupang, which is undermining the people’s basic rights,” one person wrote, while another wrote, “I can see that their Rocket Delivery is convenient and good, but I don’t think I can ignore the fact that other people are dying for the sake of my convenience anymore.”

The poor labor environment at Coupang is nothing new. According to the Coupang logistics center chapter of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union, the number of workers who died last year while working at a Coupang logistics center or contractor was nine. The company violated COVID-19 preventive measures in a number of areas in the logistics centers. The latest fire at the logistics center is not irrelevant to such a labor environment. The security camera footage secured by the police shows sparks and white smoke coming from a multi-outlet on the storage shelf inside the B2 storage space on the day of the fire. Workers told the police that the multi-outlet was installed to connect fans because there was no air-conditioning in the basement.

This day, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Korea Franchisee Union held a press conference in front of Coupang headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul and said, “More and more restaurants are suffering damages because the review and rating policy on Coupang’s food delivery application generates malicious consumers (often referred to in Korea as ‘black consumers’).” They also said, “Coupang Eats does not allow restaurant owners to even comment on a consumer review, so they have no way to respond.” Last month, A (52) who owned a snack bar in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, collapsed and died from a stroke after suffering from excessive demands for a refund by a customer and Coupang Eats, which sided with the customer.

Lee Eun-hee, a professor at Inha University’s Department of Consumer and Child Studies explained, “These days, consumers do not evaluate companies just by their capacity to produce products and their prices. They also look at the company’s influence on society.” She also said, “Since people are interested in how the company treats their workers in the process of making the product that they purchase, the company should put in measures to prevent such problems from repeating and restore credibility.” Lee Byoung-hoon, a professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University said, “South Korean consumers are demanding companies for social responsibility and adequate responses (to accidents) in addition to stock prices and profits,” and added, “We need change in corporate management.”