"Talpang" Customers Flock Here... Quick Commerce Usage Doubles Last Month

Order Volumes at Hypermarkets and Convenience Stores Rose Year-on-Year Last Month
Spillover Gains from Coupang Data Breach Incident
Expansion of Product Categories and Store Operations Also a Factor

Following the personal information leak incident at Coupang, competition among retailers to attract the so-called "Talpang" (Coupang leavers) customers has intensified. In this context, "quick commerce" services, which deliver products ordered from nearby residential or workplace areas within one hour, are targeting niche markets. Offline stores such as large supermarkets and convenience stores operating quick commerce services are expanding their linked platforms and product categories, resulting in a growing number of users.

According to industry sources on January 13, Emart's quick commerce service, which is available on two platforms-Shinsegae Group's online shopping mall SSG.com (Sseuk.com) and the delivery platform Baemin (Baedal Minjok)-saw its sales in December, after the Coupang incident, rise by 45% compared to the previous month.

On the SSG.com application, the service is called "BaroQuick," while on the Baemin app, it is available under the "Emart" category. Products are delivered by motorcycle within one hour from Emart stores located within a 3-kilometer radius of the customer's order location. As of the third quarter of last year, 95 out of 133 Emart stores nationwide were available on Baemin, and 60 on BaroQuick. The number of product categories handled increased from around 6,000 in September last year to over 10,000.

Quick Commerce. The Asia Business Daily Database

The convenience store sector, which entered the quick commerce market before large supermarkets, is also experiencing a spillover effect following the Coupang incident. At CU, a convenience store chain operated by BGF Retail, quick commerce sales from December 1 last year to January 10 this year increased by 104.6% compared to the same period last year and by 64.6% compared to the previous month. CU provides quick commerce services through its own commerce app "Pocket CU" as well as 10 external platforms. By expanding the number of deliverable products from about 3,000 to up to 8,000, CU now offers most products except for tobacco and alcohol.

GS Retail, which operates GS25 convenience stores, also saw its quick commerce sales rise by 44% year-on-year from December 1 last year to January 11 this year. This figure includes related sales from GS The Fresh, a supermarket chain that provides quick commerce services. Compared to the previous month, GS25's quick commerce sales grew by 20.1%, and GS The Fresh by 15%.

GS The Fresh Quick Commerce. Provided by GS Retail

Additionally, Seven-Eleven, which entered the quick commerce market by joining Yogiyo in 2021 and Baemin in 2022, revamped its mobile app early last year to shift to an O4O (Online for Offline) model. The introduction of features such as inventory search and same-day pickup led to the monthly active user count (MAU) doubling in December last year compared to the same month the previous year.

An industry insider commented, "Considering consumers have grown accustomed to fast delivery services like dawn delivery or next-day delivery, offline channels are expanding quick commerce as a niche strategy, enabling customers to quickly receive fresh food and daily necessities in the quantities they need from nearby locations." The insider added, "In addition to expanding service areas and product categories, increased interest following the Coupang incident appears to have led to a rise in order volume."

Meanwhile, according to e-commerce app trend analysis by market research firm Embrain Deep Data, Coupang's daily active user count (DAU) was 15,905,383 on November 29 last year, when the personal information leak was made public. The number increased to 17,016,070 two days later on December 1, but then decreased to 14,293,534 by December 31.

Embrain explained, "The temporary increase in Coupang's DAU immediately after the incident can be attributed to 'confirmation-type logins' as users checked for the information leak, changed passwords, or withdrew their memberships." The firm noted, "It is noteworthy that about a month later, the number of users declined." Embrain further stated, "Coupang's typical avoidance of responsibility-such as minimizing the scale of the damage, issuing evasive apologies, and management's absence from hearings-has deepened consumer distrust. This response appears to be leading to actual platform departures. The Coupang incident is likely to become a turning point in which the e-commerce market shifts from a 'speed competition' to a 'competition of ethics and trust.'"