Coupang leads in payment volume, but Naver closes in

Coupang solidified its lead in South Korean retail payment volume for the first half of the year, but Naver and Naver Pay are rapidly closing the gap. Naver's payment volume reached 96.5% of Coupang's, underscoring the intensifying competition and the clear emergence of a duopoly in the nation's online retail landscape. This trend suggests a significant consolidation of market power among these two major platforms.

The data, released by WiseApp/Retail, shows Coupang as the leader in average monthly payment estimates. Following closely, Naver/Naver Pay's performance indicates a near-parity in transaction value. Other platforms like Baemin (food delivery) and Gmarket/Auction lagged significantly behind, capturing only about a third or 20% of Coupang's volume, respectively. This disparity emphasizes the growing dominance of Coupang and Naver in the consumer market.

However, the rankings shift when looking at the number of unique paying customers. Convenience stores, GS25 and CU, topped this list with over 34 million and 33 million customers respectively. Coupang ranked third with 26 million, followed by Daiso (24.6 million) and Naver/Naver Pay (20.4 million). This highlights the crucial role of convenience stores as frequent, everyday spending channels for a broad consumer base, even if their individual transaction values are lower.

Daiso's strong showing in customer numbers, attributed to its value-for-money appeal amidst high inflation, further illustrates consumer spending patterns. The analysis clearly distinguishes between the high transaction volumes of online platforms and the extensive user bases of offline convenience stores, both playing vital roles in the South Korean consumer economy.