Coupang launches Rocket Fashion Growth division to beef up fashion retail

Coupang, Inc. recently established the Rocket Growth Fashion division, according to industry insiders on Monday. 

As the name suggests, the team will focus on strengthening its competency in retail fashion by recruiting new brands and sellers to sell on the platform. The e-commerce giant attracted 35 brands to the platform in the first half of this year alone. 

Coupang enjoys unrivaled competitiveness in food and household essentials but has not been as strong in the retail fashion sector.

According to the consumer data platform Opensurvey, only 16.3% of Coupang customers are on the platform to shop for fashion items. On Naver Shopping, the figure stands at 33.3%. 

With the launch of the Rocket Growth Fashion division, Coupang hopes to compete with professional online fashion platforms. Musinsa, South Korea’s largest fashion e-commerce site, is its biggest competitor.

Coupang is pursuing a project to draw most of the brands popular among those in their 20s and 30s, most of which are already available on Musinsa. 

It has already attracted some brands popular on the fashion and beauty shopping app Zigzag, such as Imvely and Chuu, to Coupang. 

“We’ve been approached multiple times by Coupang since last year,” said an employee with a fashion label. “It appears that Coupang is making an effort to host brands in the low- and mid-price range on its platform.”

BEAUTY KURLY 

Just as the general e-commerce platforms are targeting specialized malls, the strategy goes both ways. 

Kurly Inc., best known for its overnight delivery of fresh produce, launched a new vertical called Beauty Kurly on Monday. 

Beauty Kurly has global beauty brands such as Estee Lauder, Lancome and L’Occitane. 

There isn’t yet a dominant leader in beauty e-commerce, which is the main reason why Kurly is betting on the sector. 

Currently, women in their 30s and 40s are the main consumers of Kurly’s fresh food delivery service, a demographic also known as big spenders of skincare and cosmetics products. 

Kurly is confident knowing that its cold chain-based delivery system is also beneficial in delivering beauty products, which often must be kept at stable temperatures. 

Last month, the company dropped the word “market” from its grocery delivery service platform Market Kurly, reflecting its corporate strategy to expand beyond grocery delivery.

The next chapter for Kurly is expected to be the interior and household goods sector, where women in their 30s and 40s are also the main customers.  

INEVITABLE EXPANSION

Experts forecast online malls offering goods in one sector to expand beyond their areas of expertise.

Another reason why online malls and apps in specialized sectors are beefing up beyond the existing sector is to hedge against lackluster investor sentiment amid the global economic downturn. 

Write to Jong-Kwan Park, Jeong-Cheol Bae at pjk@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.