"From 400,000 Won Monthly Sales to 200 Million... Overcoming COVID-19 School Meal Suspension with Rocket Delivery"

'2020 Coupang Small Business Report - Small but Strong Companies Overcoming Adversity Together with Coupang' Published

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheolhyun] "Monthly sales, which had dropped to 400,000 won, soared to 200 million won last May thanks to Coupang's nationwide distribution network and Rocket Delivery." The success story of agricultural corporation Jiwoo (CEO Lee Jaegyu), which joined Coupang in February after school meal deliveries were halted due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was introduced through the '2020 Coupang Small Business Report.'

On the 23rd, Coupang announced the publication of the '2020 Coupang Small Business Report ? Small but Strong Companies Overcoming Adversity Together with Coupang,' analyzing small businesses on its platform. According to the report, the sales of small businesses on Coupang grew by 47.9% compared to the previous year. The sales generated by small businesses through Coupang amounted to approximately 4 trillion won, an increase of 1.4 trillion won from the previous year. Especially after the COVID-19 outbreak, many small businesses nationwide suffered significant damage to their operations, but sales of small business enterprises through Rocket Delivery in the second quarter of this year surged by 84% compared to the same period last year.

The factors contributing to the sales increase include Coupang's logistics and IT infrastructure and Rocket Delivery. Small businesses that join Coupang can utilize the vast logistics infrastructure distributed nationwide, as well as sales and payment systems, product storage and inventory management, packaging and delivery, customer service systems, and Rocket Delivery. Coupang is also contributing to regional economic development alongside small businesses. According to the report, the sales proportion of Coupang small businesses outside Seoul is 79.2%. Coupang is particularly expanding sales channels for local small businesses through Rocket Delivery. High-quality products that were previously limited to local markets are now expanding their reach through Coupang's nationwide distribution network. In fact, despite the spread of COVID-19, the average sales of small businesses in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, in the first half of this year were 2.6 times higher than the national average, and in Changnyeong County, Gyeongsangnam-do, small business sales in the second quarter grew sixfold compared to the same period last year.

Additionally, it is estimated that Coupang and small businesses together created 26,000 new jobs in 2019 alone. This figure is derived by applying the employment inducement coefficient from the Bank of Korea's input-output table to the 2019 sales of small businesses on Coupang. Professor Kang Hyunggu of Hanyang University Business School stated, "In a situation where small business sales are sharply declining, Coupang's Rocket Delivery has served as a reliable safety net for small businesses," and evaluated that "Coupang's social integration function is being realized and the benefits of Rocket Delivery's growth are being evenly redistributed."