Coupang surpasses eBay Korea in 2019 transactions

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- EBay Korea has long ruled South Korea's e-commerce market by operating such popular brands as Gmarket, Auction and G9. But startup Coupang is changing the game.

Seoul-based industry tracker Wiseapp said Tuesday the amount of eBay Korea's 2019 transactions remained almost flat at $14.67 billion compared to 2018. In contrast, Coupang saw transactions jump 57 percent year-on-year to $14.75 billion.

11St Street was third place with $8.49 billion, followed by WeMakePrice with $5.36 billion.

South Korea's leading search engine, Naver, chalked up $18 billion, but the amount includes advertising revenues and online content fees, according to Wiseapp.

Coupang, founded in 2013, is valued at around $9 billion has sought fast growth based on aggressive investments. It piled up around $2.6 billion in losses through 2018.

But the company continues to channel fresh funds into improving its logistics and services. The cash-burning strategy is supported by such capitalists as the SoftBank Vision Fund, which invested $1 billion in 2015 and $2 billion more in 2018.

Wiseapp compiled the data based on analysis of Korean adults' transactions through credit cards, debit cards, mobile phones and credit transfer. Cash transactions were excluded from the statistics.