Coupang

Rocket Delivery

Coupang is known for its fast delivery system.[38] Rocket Delivery is a signature service whereby items ordered before midnight will be delivered overnight by Coupang's own delivery personnel.[39] In July 2020, Coupang's Rocket Delivery staff was renamed from Coupangman to Coupangfriend, since the number of female delivery workers has increased, and to imply friendly service.[40]

Rocket Delivery service is free for the Coupang Rocket membership subscribers, for whom delivery is free for all Rocket Delivery tagged products.[41] Rocket Delivery is offered to non-subscribers if they purchase more than KRW4,990. It is estimated that 32% of Coupang users are subscribed.[41] 99.3% of Coupang Rocket Delivery orders are delivered within one day.[42]

Rocket Delivery service is possible via 200 warehouses that are approximately 20 million sq. ft across the country.[43] Coupang's logistic centers store approximately 5.3 million types of products and they are stored by an efficient storage system called Random Stow Algorithm.[44] About 1.7 million Rocket Delivery products are sent out from the logistic centers on a daily basis.[44]

Rocket Wow

Rocket Wow, a paid subscription service, similar to Amazon Prime, costs users KRW 2,900 per month. On 30 December 2021, Coupang adjusted the membership fee to KRW 4,990 per month. The increased subscription service has applied to new subscribers.[45]

The features of Rocket Wow are:[46]

• Free delivery for entire Rocket Delivery tagged products
• Free return within 30 days
• Discounts on Rocket Wow tagged products
• One-day delivery
• Receiving Rocket Fresh products in the morning
• Use of Coupang Play

Rocket Fresh

Rocket Fresh is a fresh-food delivery service. Similar to Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh delivers fresh foods overnight. Users can receive the food by 7am if they order before midnight.[47] The service covers up to 8,500 kinds of foods.[48]

When Rocket Wow subscribers are ordering Rocket Fresh, they can choose the delivery option of Rocket Fresh Eco, which is an option to deliver the foods inside a reusable fresh eco-bag instead of a paper box. The bag preserves the foods in a fresh condition, and is re-collected in the customer's next delivery.[49]

Rocket Direct Purchasing of foreign goods

Users can purchase foreign goods through Coupang. Rocket Direct Purchasing allows foreign goods to be delivered within 3 days.[39]

Coupang Eats

Coupang Eats is a food-delivery service like Uber Eats. Coupang users can order food from restaurants, with delivery by Coupang[50] which can be tracked in real time. According to the "Delivery Service Trend Report 2021" released by market research company Open Survey, delivery-service app usage was topped by Baemin (88.6%), Yogiyo (68.2%), and Coupang Eats (34.7%). Compared to the previous year, Baemin rose 8.9 percent, Yogiyo fell 0.1 percent and Coupang Eats rose 28.6 percent.[51] Coupang Eats' growth year-on-year was also noticeable in the recognition survey of each app. Baemin increased 2.4 percentage points from 93.4 percent last year to 95.8 percent this year, Yogiyo remained 90 percent, and Coupang Eats jumped 49.1 percentage points from 23.3 percent to 72.4 percent. Baedaltong fell from 62.7 percent to 55.5 percent.[51] Coupang Eats topped the list with 74 percent for satisfaction with delivery apps.[51]

Coupang Flex

Coupang Flex is an outsourcing service that provides temporary employment to anyone over 18 years old.[52] People can choose the date they wish to work and their main work is delivery. Those who have cars can pick up the packages from Coupang's logistic centers and deliver by themselves. Those who do not have cars assist the Coupang man. Coupang flex users are paid KRW 800 per package during the day and KRW1200 per package during the night.[53] On average, they tend to deliver 50 to 60 packages per day.[52]

Coupang Play

Coupang Play is a South Korean subscription-based video streaming service launched by Coupang in December 2020.[54]

Coupang Pay

Coupang Pay is a digital payments service that enables customers to make easy payments. In mid 2020, the company spun off Coupang Pay as a separate fintech subsidiary.[55] By the end of 2020, Coupang Pay was the second most widely used pay system in Korea, with settlement turnover of KRW 25 trillion.[56]

Farfetch

Farfetch is a marketplace for the luxury fashion industry. The Farfetch connects customers in over 190 countries and territories with items from more than 50 countries and over 1,400 of the world's brands, boutiques, and department stores.[57] Farfetch was acquired by Coupang in January 2024.[58]

Worker wellbeing

Coupang has been involved in complaints by activists and families of workers who allegedly died from overwork. In April 2021 Kwon Young-gook, a lawyer and the co-chairman at the Committee for Coupang Workers' Human Rights and Health, said "Seven Coupang employees and two subcontractors have died of cardiovascular disorders, such as heart attack, for the past year. ... Out of the nine deaths, five are connected to overnight work as they passed away during or after night duty."[63][64] According to statistics published in the Korea Economic Daily, Coupang had recorded no work-accident deaths since its launch in 2011, as of the end of 2020. In April 2021, the company introduced Coupang Care, a system that allows employees to take paid breaks and receive health care coaching.[65]

In November 2025 the Korea Times reported that workplace deaths were becoming a persistent issue at Coupang and that since 2020 twenty-seven Coupang workers have died whilst at work according to the Taekbae Union which represents couriers. They note that before Coupang Inc. was listed on the NYSE in 2021, Coupang founder Bom Kim resigned from all registered titles relating to Coupang Corp. thus severing himself from any legal liability related to his registered executive positions in Korea whilst still holding over 70 percent of voting rights in Coupang Inc. and retaining influence over the company's affairs.[66]

Item Winner system

There is a debate over Coupang's Item Winner system, which selects the cheapest product among the same products as the sole seller. There is criticism that sellers offering items for as low as one won can monopolize the market. According to Coupang's terms and conditions, this right is delegated to Coupang as soon as the product's image and trademark are posted. In the process, problems can arise because sellers can use other sellers' images, via Coupang's copyright-transfer agreements. In May 2021, the situation was reported to be under review by the Fair Trade Commission.[67]

Cybersecurity breach

In 2025, it was revealed that data belonging to 33.7 million Coupang customers had been leaked in a cyberattack that lasted from June to November of that year, prompting an investigation by the South Korean government and an apology by the company.[68][69] Following the breach, CEO Park Dae-jun resigned in December 2025. Harold Rogers was named interim CEO. Rogers is Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Coupang Inc., the company's U.S.-based parent company.[70] After the breach, the South Korean authorities had launched a coordinated “whole-of-government” response including labor, financial and customs investigations.[71]

In January 2026, Trump announced tariffs on various Korean goods, with US Republican congressman Jim Jordan citing the treatment of Coupang as one of the reasons.[72]

U.S.-based investment firms Greenoaks Capital Partners and Altimeter Capital, which together hold approximately $1.5 billion in Coupang shares petitioned the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to initiate a Section 301 investigation into the South Korean government. The investors alleged that Seoul engaged in unfair and discriminatory treatment of Coupang following the cybersecurity breach and characterized the government investigations as punitive and harmful to U.S. commercial interests, accused the Lee Jae-myung administration of taking an “increasingly anti-U.S., pro-China stance” and indicated plans to pursue international arbitration claims against South Korea.[73]