"550,000 Won Discount Over 3 Months"... Coupang Wow Membership Nears 10 Million Users

Coupang Paid Membership 'Rocket Wow' Increases by 50% Compared to 2020

"I have received discounts of 550,000 won over the past 3 months and more than 2 million won over the past year." Choi Yang-ja (alias, 40), a housewife living in Sanbon, Gyeonggi-do, is a 'Coupangler' who shops exclusively through Coupang while raising her 9-year-old child. She buys more than 30 items every month, ranging from food products like milk, bread, sweet potatoes, tangerines, coffee, and supplements to toilet paper, masks, as well as her child's books, clothing, masks, and shoes. Excluding 'ju' (住) from the Korean phrase 'uisikju' (衣食住, clothing, food, and shelter), she solves both eating and clothing needs entirely through Coupang. Her peak ordering time is from 8 PM to midnight. This is because various products offering benefits exclusively for Rocket Wow members are updated in time for the next day's dawn delivery order cutoff. Over the past 3 months, Choi has received discounts totaling 551,700 won. These benefits come through services such as free shipping, member-only discounts, and free returns. Choi said, "I think the total discounts I have received over the past year exceed 2 million won."

Coupang's paid membership 'Rocket Wow' is popular. Since its launch in 2019, the number of paid members surpassed 9 million in the first quarter, three years later. This is a 50% increase compared to 6 million members in 2020. According to Coupang, one in four internet shopping users in South Korea uses the Wow membership. Considering that 18.11 million customers have purchased at least once on Coupang, half of them are paid members. Industry experts predict that if this trend continues, the era of 10 million Wow membership members will soon arrive. The average purchase amount per active Coupang customer, including Wow members, was also recorded at $283, an increase of more than 11% compared to the same period last year.

The popularity of the Wow membership is due to the ability to receive fast delivery for free. Because shipping fees are completely free with Rocket Delivery, 30-day free returns, and Rocket Direct Purchase free shipping, even items costing 2,000 to 3,000 won can be delivered for free. Professor Song Sang-hwa of the Graduate School of Northeast Asian Logistics at Incheon National University said, "Coupang has changed customer habits, and customers' fast delivery habits of 'receiving the desired item when they want it' will remain unchanged in the future."

Coupang plans to change the Wow membership fee to 4,990 won per month starting this June, but consumer resistance is relatively low. This is because most members are already enjoying shipping fee savings of hundreds of thousands of won. Coupang explained that just using free shipping a few times can provide discount benefits exceeding the membership fee. Especially, residents in remote island and mountainous areas with insufficient e-commerce shopping infrastructure are said to give high marks to Coupang's delivery service. Mr. Kwak Min-ho (alias, 48), who lives in Jeju Island, said, "In Jeju Island, there are almost no free shipping benefits except through Coupang, and other services either say delivery is unavailable or charge additional shipping fees of at least 3,000 to 5,000 won even if delivery is possible." The Wow membership fee is said to be equivalent to the cost of ordering a single product on other online shopping malls.

Experts explain that Coupang's focus on differentiated services so far is the reason for low customer resistance. Professor Yeo Jun-sang of Dongguk University's Department of Business Administration said, "In the subscription economy era where various membership services are launched, differentiation is necessary," adding, "Wow membership offers significant benefits such as free shipping and 30-day free returns, and in the future, customers will inevitably seek differentiated membership benefits."