Nine out of 10 Koreans live in Coupang delivery zones: Survey

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

Nine out of 10 South Koreans live in so-called “Coupang Zones,” where they can place an order on the country’s largest e-commerce platform Coupang and receive it the next day, a survey showed on Thursday.

According to a survey conducted by Maeil Business Newspaper on Thursday, Coupang’s same-day or next-day delivery service was available in 182 locations out of 260 cities and counties surveyed in the country. When considering the population of each city and county, approximately 48.25 million people, or 94 percent of the country’s total population of 51.35 million, live in the Coupang Zones at the end of October 2023.

Coupang, which introduced its Rocket Delivery service in 2014, has developed a logistics system that is now accessible to almost all citizens after a decade. In the early stages of Rocket Delivery, only 2.59 million people living in specific areas, including a few neighborhoods in Seoul, could benefit from the service.

Since then, Coupang invested heavily in logistics despite its significant annual losses, resulting in an increase in Rocket Delivery users to over 34 million by 2020, with the population in the Coupang Zones rising by over 14 million in just three more years.

According to sources from the logistics industry, Coupang has actively expanded its services to regions experiencing severe population decline, including Donghae and Samcheok in Gangwon Province, Yesan and Boryeong in South Chungcheong Province, Andong and Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang Province, Tongyeong and Sacheon in South Gyeongsang Province, Gimje in North Jeolla Province, and Yeongam in South Jeolla Province, since 2022.

“Coupang’s expansion of its regional Rocket Delivery network in spite of the population decline is a significant benefit to consumers experiencing difficulties due to a lack of shopping infrastructure,” according to Professor Kim Dae-jong of Sejong University’s School of Business Administration, adding that it could contribute to preventing population decline in rural areas.