Coupang's monthly credit and debit card payments have surpassed the 5 trillion won mark, despite concerns that consumers might leave following a personal data leak incident.

The number of users has also grown to an all-time high.

Industry watchers interpret this increase in payment volume as the result of a recurring purchase structure for daily necessities and groceries built on a swift delivery system, combined with the lock-in effect of its membership program.

According to Mobile Index by AI data tech company IGAWorks, Coupang's estimated credit and debit card payment volume for July reached 5.0942 trillion won.

This represents a 5.4 percent increase from 4.8337 trillion won the previous month, marking the highest monthly figure recorded since the data leak incident.

The estimated payment volume for August also approached the 5 trillion won milestone at 4.9301 trillion won.

Compared to 4.3777 trillion won in August of last year, this is a 12.6 percent increase.

Coupang's payment volume had dropped to 4.0219 trillion won in February of this year before showing a steady recovery.

Experts analyze that the recurring purchase structure for daily necessities and groceries driven by Rocket Delivery and early-morning delivery, alongside the benefits of the Wow membership, influenced the growth in payment volume.

Additionally, the failure of domestic e-commerce competitors to offer services capable of replacing Coupang's delivery network, product assortment, and purchasing convenience is cited as a factor that intensified consumer concentration on Coupang.


The number of Coupang users has also steadily increased every month.

The monthly active users (MAU) of the Coupang app reached 35.95 million in August.

This is an increase of 510,000 from 35.44 million in July.

In October of last year, prior to the data leak, Coupang's MAU stood at 34.38 million.

Furthermore, Coupang's MAU last month was roughly four times that of the standalone domestic shopping app Naver Plus Store (9.04 million).

Although some consumers moved to cancel their memberships immediately following the data leak incident in November of last year, consumer exodus has effectively ended in the short term at the actual consumption stage.

Analysis indicates that fast delivery, early-morning delivery, and membership benefits have combined with everyday consumption, increasing dependency on Coupang.

In contrast, domestic e-commerce platforms are struggling.

Gmarket's estimated payment volume for August was 247.7 billion won, down 25.9 percent from August of last year, while 11st saw a 3.1 percent decrease to 241.4 billion won.

Coupang's payment volume in August reached approximately 10.1 times the combined payment volumes of Gmarket and 11st.

These payment figures are estimates calculated by an AI algorithm based on credit and debit card data and may differ from actual sales.

Payment data for Naver Plus Store was not included in the comparison.

(Photo: Yonhap News)