Coupang Misses Out on Year-End Sales Boom... Average Daily Sales Down 7.11% After Data Breach

Average Daily Transaction Amount Plummets from 78.7 Billion Won to 73.1 Billion Won After Data Leak
"Year-End Sales Boost Disappears"

Following the personal information leak incident, Coupang's average daily card sales dropped by 7.11%. Although it is typical for sales to increase in December, which is a peak season for the retail industry, the continued trend of consumers leaving Coupang-known as 'Talpang' (leaving Coupang)-has resulted in the disappearance of the year-end sales boom.

On January 15, Assemblyman Cha Kyugeun of the National Innovation Party, citing data obtained from the Financial Supervisory Service on Coupang transactions from three major card companies (KB, Shinhan, and Hana), reported that Coupang's average daily sales decreased by 7.11% before and after the personal information leak incident on November 20.

Yonhap News Agency

Prior to the leak (November 1-19), the average daily transaction amount was approximately 78.7 billion won. After the incident (November 20-December 31), this figure sharply dropped to 73.1 billion won. During the same period, the average daily number of transactions also fell by about 7.07%, from 2.53 million to 2.35 million.

In December, the average daily transaction amount was 72.9 billion won, a 5.16% decrease compared to November. This means that, based on the three card companies alone, Coupang lost about 5.6 billion won in sales per day. Considering fixed costs such as logistics center maintenance and labor expenses, this could lead to a significant blow to the company's operations.

This stands in stark contrast to Coupang's rapid growth last year. According to Coupang's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings report, the company posted a 21% year-over-year sales increase and achieved a record quarterly performance of 8 billion dollars (approximately 1.08 trillion won).

Assemblyman Cha stated, "The lax management of personal information and arrogant response by a platform company that dominates the market ultimately led to collective consumer rejection," adding, "To make companies recognize personal information protection as a matter of survival rather than a cost, it is essential to immediately introduce a class action system that enables victims to respond efficiently, as well as a punitive damages system that holds companies accountable for intentional negligence."