Coupang opens its second logistics center in Taiwan

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform, has opened its second fulfillment center in Taiwan and plans to open a third one there in the first half of next year, the company said on Friday.

The SoftBank-backed online retailer, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, expanded into Taiwan last year. It has since been growing at a rapid clip thanks to its fast delivery service — dubbed Rocket Delivery — and wide assortment of products.

In the second quarter of this year, it ranked first in Taiwan’s shopping app downloads.

Coupang held the opening ceremony of the second fulfillment center on Thursday.

It was attended by Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim and several high-ranking Taiwanese government officials: Wang Mei-hua, minister of economic affairs; Lee Huai-jen, deputy minister of digital affairs; Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan; and Chang San-cheng, the mayor of Taoyuan.

The fulfillment center is located in the city of Taoyuan, in Taiwan's northwest.

It is a smart logistics center as it predicts and analyzes customer demand using artificial intelligence and machine learning. It is also equipped with various automation technologies.

Coupang is Korea’s first unicorn, or private company with a corporate value of more than 1 trillion won ($750 million), in the e-commerce sector.

Its same- or next-day delivery services, the first of its kind in the country, has caused a sensation and pushed its peers to launch similar services.

Coupang's success has sparked a craze for startup investment in Korea and led to the birth of numerous unicorn companies.

"Coupang's success in the Taiwanese market goes beyond the level of individual companies and connects neighboring countries in Asia by increasing trade between countries,” Chairman Bom Kim said in his speech during the opening ceremony.

Some 70% of the several million products Coupang sells in Taiwan are made by Korean small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). More than 12,000 domestic SMEs export products to Taiwan via Coupang.

“For many small and mid-sized businesses having difficulty entering overseas markets, Coupang's Taiwan business is an alternative to opening a new sales channel," said a Coupang official.

Write to Hun-Hyoung Ha at hhh@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article