Leading South Korean online marketplaces 2023, by monthly traffic

As of October 2023, coupang.com had the highest number of monthly visits among South Korean online marketplace shopping websites with around 127.6 million monthly visits. It placed far ahead of its competitors, the closest one being shopping.naver.com with roughly 67.5 million monthly visits. Although e-commerce marketplaces are the most used online shopping channel, worldwide leader Amazon has only a limited presence in the South Korean market.

The Korean Amazon: Coupang

Founded in 2010, Coupang quickly rose in popularity by offering a platform not only for its own products but also for operating as an online marketplace. This, combined with the platform maintaining very fast delivery times, caters to South Korean consumers who generally appreciate convenience and speed. The sales revenue of Coupang mirrors its quick rise in popularity, and the company successfully went public in 2021.

Who are South Korean online shoppers?

In South Korea, most people use online shopping, with almost everyone aged between 20 and 39 engaging in internet shopping. Only those over 60 years of age participated significantly less in internet shopping activities, at under 50 percent. Even after the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic had mostly lifted, only a few people decreased their frequency of online shopping in 2022. Instead, even more turned toward it.