Fair Trade Commission Releases 2025 Retail Industry Survey Results
Coupang, which recently sparked controversy due to the leak of personal information of 33.7 million customers, was found to have received over 2.3 trillion won in promotional and incentive payments from its suppliers. This amount is equivalent to about 10% of its total transaction value.
The Fair Trade Commission released the results of its '2025 Survey on Commission Rates and Related Practices of Major Retailers' on the 25th. The survey examined the commission rates, incentive payments, and additional costs at 40 major retail brands (retailers) across eight sectors, including large supermarkets and online shopping malls.
According to the Fair Trade Commission's findings, Coupang is estimated to have received approximately 2.3424 trillion won from suppliers last year in the form of promotional and incentive payments. Of this, Coupang received 1.4212 trillion won as expenses for sales promotion, such as advertising, publicity, and discount coupons. This represents 5.76% of Coupang's total direct purchase transaction value of 24.6953 trillion won.
In addition, Coupang received incentive payments equivalent to 3.73% of its direct purchase transaction value, which amounts to about 921.1 billion won based on a reverse calculation of the transaction amount. Despite earning a margin through direct purchasing, Coupang received more incentive payments than the online shopping mall average of 3.5%. Among all retail sectors, online shopping malls had the highest ratio of incentive payments.
In June 2023, Coupang shifted its retail transactions to 100% direct purchasing, a model in which it buys goods from suppliers and sells them at higher prices to earn profits from the margin. However, separately from this, Coupang also generated additional income by receiving advertising and publicity fees from suppliers. The amount received in this way is about 9.5% of the total direct purchase amount from suppliers. Last year, 20,169 suppliers delivered goods to Coupang.
In 2024, Coupang recorded sales of 36.1276 trillion won, operating profit of 1.2827 trillion won, and net profit of 785 billion won. On a consolidated basis, including its subsidiaries, Coupang posted sales of 38.2988 trillion won, operating profit of 1.6245 trillion won, and net profit of 1.1598 trillion won.
This survey also disclosed the actual commission rates of major retailers for 2024: TV home shopping 27.7%, department stores 19.1%, large supermarkets 16.6%, outlets and complex shopping malls 12.6%, and online shopping malls 10.0%. The actual commission rate is calculated by dividing the sum of commissions and additional costs (such as promotional and logistics expenses) received from suppliers by the total sales amount of goods.
For the first time, the survey included duty-free shops, which had the highest commission rate at 43.2%. Specialty stores recorded a rate of 15.1%. Even among retailers conducting direct purchase transactions, it was common to receive separate incentive payments from suppliers, as in Coupang's case. The proportion of suppliers paying incentive payments for direct purchase transactions was highest at convenience stores (48.8%), followed by specialty stores (29.6%), large supermarkets (25.7%), online shopping malls (19.1%), duty-free shops (9.8%), and department stores (3.6%).
Olive Young operates both as an online shopping mall and as an offline specialty store. In the online shopping mall sector, its actual commission rate was 23.52%, higher than other retailers such as SSG.com (8.08%), KakaoTalk Gift (10.02%), and GS Shop (11.58%). Olive Young's specialty store commission rate reached 27.0%, surpassing Lotte Hi-Mart (15.01%) in the same sector.
Olive Young also received a high level of incentive payments. The ratio of incentive payments paid by suppliers to transaction value was 6.26% for Olive Young's online shopping mall, exceeding the six-company average of 3.5%. For its specialty stores, the ratio was 6.76%, more than double the sector average of 2.63%.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
