Coupang offers traditional market shops support to sell online

[Courtesy of Coupang]

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform, unveiled plans Thursday to onboard more than 100 traditional market shops onto its marketplace by next year, offering support for their online sales.

The company has been actively engaged in its Traditional Market Support Program since late last year. The program aims to enable local traditional market shops, typically confined to small regional areas, to join Coupang, thus facilitating nationwide online sales and promoting their digital transformation.

So far, 35 traditional market shops in Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju have become part of Coupang’s marketplace, and there has been a continuous influx of inquiries from various stores seeking to join the platform, Coupang said.

One such success story is Honam Seafood at Seoul’s Mapo Agricultural and Seafood Market. Since joining Coupang at the end of last year, the shop has consistently generated daily sales of over 2 million won ($1,500) through online sales.

Coupang emphasized the importance of such success stories, saying that the successful digital transformation of Honam Seafood has set a good example for traditional market shop owners who may be hesitant about expanding into online sales.

“We will continue to assist traditional market shops in establishing a presence in the online market,” the company said.