South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang announced Thursday that it had formed a strategic partnership with leading global publisher Wiley on the previous day to expand its offerings of academic and professional books in South Korea.
This marks Coupang's first direct collaboration with an international publishing house.
The agreement, signed at Coupang's Jamsil headquarters, was attended by Wayne Lee, Coupang's executive vice president of retail, and Chor Meng Tan, Wiley's senior director for Asia.
The partnership aims to leverage Coupang's extensive logistics network to distribute Wiley's high-quality academic and professional publications to customers, including those in educational and research institutions.
Established in 1807, Wiley is well regarded for its publications in science, information technology, academia and medical fields. In 2024, Publisher Weekly ranked the company eighth among the world's largest publishers.
Coupang plans to sequentially procure approximately 50,000 titles from Wiley's catalog, with Rocket Delivery services expected to commence as early as June.
Coupang Wow members will benefit from free shipping and returns, even for single-book purchases.
"This partnership opens the door to a diverse collection of books spanning humanities, arts and economics, in addition to scholarly works," said Lee.
Tan added, "We are delighted to showcase our collection of books with Coupang, which boasts the world’s fastest delivery."
By Park Soo-bin (spark@heraldcorp.com)
