South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is set to make its entry into the Indian market, as confirmed by Government officials to Business Standard. The SoftBank-backed startup has expressed its interest in entering one of the world’s largest e-commerce markets, initiating discussions with the Indian Government. While Coupang’s application has been received, the details of the upcoming dialogues with the company are expected to be finalised in the following month. If Coupang, often referred to as the ‘Amazon of South Korea,’ successfully enters the Indian marketplace, it will directly compete with established players like Flipkart and Amazon. Despite Flipkart and Amazon’s decade-long presence in India, they face challenges from Government-backed initiatives such as the Open Network for Digital Commerce and Domestic e-commerce platforms like Reliance JioMart and Tata Digital.
The Indian e-commerce market, considered underpenetrated but highly lucrative, is projected to reach $150 billion by 2026, up from $83 billion in 2022 according to the FIS 2023 Global Payments Report. Currently, Flipkart and Amazon dominate the market, with a combined market share of approximately 60%. Reliance holds the third position, primarily driven by its attractive fashion category (AJIO) and e-grocery platform JioMart. Coupang’s proposal to enter the Indian market comes after its decision to withdraw from Japan, where it faced challenges due to the strong convenience store culture and an ageing population less inclined to shop for groceries online.
Coupang sees India as an opportunity to capitalise on the growing internet penetration and a young population increasingly reliant on online deliveries. The company’s signature services, such as Rocket Delivery promising fast delivery times within 12 hours, Rocket Jikgu enabling direct purchasing of foreign goods, and Rocket Wow, a paid subscription service similar to Amazon Prime, are expected to resonate with Indian consumers. Additionally, Coupang’s offerings include Rocket Fresh, a same-day delivery service for fresh food, Coupang Eats for food delivery from restaurants, and Coupang Flex, an outsourcing service providing gig work. The company also operates a subscription-based video streaming service called Coupang Play.
In 2022, Coupang recorded annual revenue of $20.6 billion, with over 5 million unique items available for same-day or next-day delivery, and an impressive 99.6% of orders delivered within 24 hours. Notably, 70% of Korean citizens live within a 10-minute distance from a Coupang logistics centre. Following its successful $4.6 billion initial public offering (IPO) in 2021, Coupang became the largest investor-owned by SoftBank, which holds one-third of the company. Other notable stakeholders include Greenoaks Capital, Maverick Holdings & Investments, Rose Park Advisors, BlackRock, and Coupang CEO Kim Beomseok (known as Bom Kim in the West).
