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Rival platforms gain as beleaguered Coupang hemorrhages users

Published: 09 Jan. 2026, 05:01

Coupang trucks are seen at a logistics center in downtown Seoul on Dec. 30, 2025. [NEWS1]

Coupang is losing users, and its rivals are moving quickly to capture the spillover across fast delivery, fashion and grocery services.

As consumers turn away from the country’s largest e-commerce platform, competitors are reporting sharp increases in orders, new customers and transaction volume. Analysts say the shift is creating a balloon effect, with demand flowing directly to rival platforms.

SSG.com, which offers Coupang-like dawn and same-day delivery, said Thursday that its total number of orders in December 2025 rose 15 percent from the previous month, while the number of first-time customers climbed 30 percent.

Market Kurly also saw December order volumes increase 10 to 15 percent from the month before.

“Orders at Kurly N Mart, Kurly’s shop on Naver Plus Store, also jumped sharply,” said a Kurly official, adding that it could not disclose exact figures. At 11Street, the number of customers who used its fast-delivery service, Shooting Delivery, for the first time in December more than tripled from a year earlier.

The shift is also showing up in daily active users, or DAU. According to Mobile Index, a service run by market research firm IGAWorks, Coupang’s Saturday DAU stood at 15,469,436, down 4.81 percent from 16,251,968 on Nov. 29, 2025, when the Coupang leak started to make headlines. Estimated weekly payment volume also fell more than 7 percent, to 956.2 billion won ($657 million) for Dec. 22 to 28 from 1.03 trillion won for Nov. 24 to 30.

By contrast, 11Street’s Saturday DAU rose 15.38 percent over the same period to 1,494,243, while Gmarket’s climbed 22.93 percent to 1,679,314.

Fashion platform Musinsa has also seen a spike in new sign-ups this year. Musinsa said new member registrations on its online store last Friday and Saturday rose more than 70 percent from the same period in 2025. Musinsa currently has 16 million online members. 29CM, operated by Musinsa, also said that new online sign-ups on Saturday were more than double those of a year earlier.

Musinsa's coupon targeting Coupang’s compensation offer [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Transaction growth has been notable as well. From last Thursday through this Sunday, Musinsa’s beauty-category transaction volume more than doubled from a year earlier. Over the same period, 29CM posted sharp increases in transaction volume for beauty accessories, up 194 percent, body-care products, up 153 percent, and kitchenware, up 74 percent.

The intensifying competition is now fueling aggressive marketing aimed at attracting customers fleeing Coupang. SSG.com launched its SSG Seven Club membership on Jan. 6, offering points worth 7 percent of purchase amounts, up to 50,000 won per month. The monthly fee is 2,900 won, far below Coupang’s Wow membership fee of 7,980 won. 11Street has expanded the number of discounted items, while Gmarket recently began weekend delivery.

A Musinsa official said the company’s growth is not limited to apparel, its core business, but is also extending to beauty and household goods, likely due to a shift in demand away from Coupang. The official added that Musinsa’s 50,000-won discount coupon campaign, usable without conditions, was particularly effective.

Coupang previously offered compensation worth 50,000 won per person to 33.7 million victims of a personal data leak, but has faced criticism that restrictions on where and how the coupons can be used undermine their effectiveness.

Coupang's logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 29, 2025. [JANG JIN-YOUNG]

In response, Musinsa has been offering discount coupons worth a total of 50,000 won to both existing and new members from Jan. 1 to 14, usable across Musinsa Store, 20,000 won, Musinsa Shoes, 20,000 won, Musinsa Beauty, 5,000 won, and secondhand platform Musinsa Used, 5,000 won.

“Marketing competition among rivals is likely to intensify further,” said Lee Jong-woo, a professor of business administration at Ajou University. “There is still a large gap in user numbers between Coupang and its competitors, but that gap could gradually narrow.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]