Luxury, Taiwan units emerge as key growth drivers beyond core commerce
Korean e-commerce giant Coupang reported record-high revenue of $7.91 billion in the first quarter, a 21 percent on-year increase, driven in part by favorable foreign exchange rates despite sluggish consumer spending and intensifying e-commerce competition in Korea.
On Wednesday, Coupang Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reported a first-quarter operating profit of $154 million — up over 300 percent year-over-year, or $114 million higher — underscoring the company’s improved operating efficiency.
“Our consistent trend of delivering both strong growth and margin expansion is the result of years of investment and a determination to deliver the best customer experience at the lowest cost,” said Coupang founder and CEO Kim Bom during the first-quarter earnings call.
The company reported a net profit of $114 million, resulting in a net profit margin of 1.4 percent. Operating margin also improved to 2.0 percent, up from 0.6 percent a year earlier. While first-quarter revenue dipped slightly from the previous quarter’s $7.97 billion, it still marked the highest Q1 revenue in the company’s history.
In a strong show of confidence, Coupang announced a $1 billion share repurchase program — nearly six times the size of its buyback in April 2024 — marking its largest capital return initiative since going public in March 2021.
Kim highlighted the company’s momentum in product category expansion as a key driver of customer engagement.
“This quarter, we’ve onboarded esteemed brands such as Kiehl’s, Dolce & Gabbana, and Jo Malone — joining existing brands like Estee Lauder and Lancome — to the delight of our R.LUX customers. In addition, we welcomed other popular brands across various categories, including Swarovski, Converse, Wedgwood, Royal Copenhagen and Nespresso,” he said. “As a result, the number of customers shopping in nine or more categories rose by over 25 percent.”
Coupang’s core “Product Commerce” segment — which includes Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh, Rocket Growth and Marketplace — reached 23.4 million active customers, up 9 percent from a year ago. Segment revenue grew 16 percent to $6.87 billion, while revenue per active customer increased 6 percent to $294.
Growth in Coupang’s emerging businesses was even stronger, with combined revenue from Farfetch, Taiwan Rocket Delivery and Coupang Eats jumping 78 percent to $1.04 billion. Adjusted EBITDA loss for these segments slightly improved to $168 million.
In Taiwan, the company launched its WOW membership program in March and began recruiting Coupang Friends — its direct delivery personnel — in April to enhance coverage and delivery speed.
“We’re making significant progress in expanding our selection and forging direct relationships with suppliers, including global brands like Coke, Pepsi, P&G and Unicharm, as well as many local brands important to Taiwanese customers. This helped drive a nearly 500 percent expansion in selection this quarter,” Kim said.
The CEO also addressed Coupang’s plans for Farfetch, the global luxury fashion platform it acquired early last year.
“We are streamlining Farfetch’s operations and customer offerings to align with our strategy of delivering the world’s best luxury products and experiences, wherever our customers live. And these changes are already yielding encouraging results,” he said.
Meanwhile, Coupang CFO Gaurav Anand commented on recent geopolitical developments, including newly announced US tariffs, noting that the company’s core business remains largely insulated from the impact.
“We have not observed a significant impact on our core consumer from recent events. However, we recognize that no economy is immune to current global conditions, and we will continue to closely monitor changes in the macro environment,” Anand said.
By Kim Hae-yeon (hykim@heraldcorp.com)
