"Sales Plunge 90% Due to 'Talpang'... Coupang's Small Business Partners Face Real Losses"

Small Business Owners Nationwide Demand Compensation in Front of Coupang Headquarters
Oh Sehee: "Talpang Phenomenon Severely Hurts Partner Businesses"
Calls for Measures Against Plummeting Sales, End to Unfair Practices, and Immediate Halt to Ad

After Coupang's data breach incident involving 33.7 million personal information records, the damage to partner businesses is spreading. Due to the "Talpang" (mass withdrawal from Coupang) phenomenon, small business owners and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered on Coupang are experiencing a sharp decline in sales, and there have even been cases where delivery orders have completely stopped.

On the morning of January 14, the Democratic Party's National Small Business Committee held a press conference in front of Coupang's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, to publicly share cases of damage suffered by small business owners and SMEs on the Coupang platform and to demand compensation.

On the 14th, a press conference regarding the "Demand for Compensation for Damages to Small Business Owners and Small and Medium Enterprises Entering Coupang" is being held in front of Coupang headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jae-Hyun Park

Yoo Deokhyun, President of the Seoul Small Business Association, stated at the event, "Since the Coupang incident, small business owners in Seoul say their situation has gone beyond simply struggling with sales-they report that payment notifications have stopped altogether. Daily orders, which used to be 30 to 50, have dropped to single digits, while cancellations and returns have increased. With rent and credit card payments unchanged but sales falling, we have no strength left to keep going." Hwang Kyuhun, President of the Incheon Small Business Association, also shared, "At the sites, people say there are no orders today, only delivery trucks passing by, and the number of returns has increased so much that warehouses are full."

Assemblywoman Oh Sehee of the Democratic Party said, "Due to the mass exodus of consumers from Coupang, businesses highly dependent on Coupang have seen their sales plummet by as much as 90 percent, pushing them to the brink of survival. The Coupang incident clearly demonstrates how the responsibility for platform management failures is unfairly shifted onto small business owners and SMEs."

On this day, small business owners from Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon attended the event, holding signs that read, "Sales down 90%, Coupang is responsible" and "Coupang causes the problem, only small businesses suffer." They demanded: ▲ measures to address the sharp decline in sales for partner businesses, ▲ an apology and countermeasures for unfair practices such as preferential treatment for Coupang's private brands, and ▲ the immediate cessation of commissions collected under the pretext of advertising fees.

On the 14th, Shim Hoonseop, Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party's National Small Business Committee, shared cases of damages reported to the 'Coupang Incident Small Business Damage Reporting Center.' Photo by Jae-hyun Park

The Democratic Party's National Small Business Committee also announced plans to launch a party-level task force (TF) in response to the Coupang incident. Assemblywoman Oh explained, "Previously, the Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee visited Coupang's headquarters and met with the relevant personnel. Coupang was supposed to provide a response plan to the Assembly office, but nothing has been shared so far. Moving forward, we plan to form a TF at the party level and communicate directly with Coupang."