SEOUL, May 07 (AJP) - April credit card transaction volume for South Korean e-commerce leader Coupang surged back to record levels, signaling that the platform's market dominance remains intact. The rebound follows a massive personal information breach revealed late last year, according to mobile index data released by artificial intelligence firm IGAWorks on Thursday.
IGAWorks' data showed that monthly credit and debit card payments for Coupang reached 4.6 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in April. This represents a 3.8 percent increase compared to October 2025, the month before the company officially announced the data leak.
March payments followed a similar trajectory, rising 4.1 percent above October levels and 3.2 percent above November levels. The figures indicate that consumer spending stabilized quickly after an initial dip following the privacy scandal.
The platform's influence is particularly strong among South Korea's most affluent shoppers. Roughly 90 percent of all high-spending e-commerce users are active on the platform.
Industry analysts attribute this resilience to the convenience of the platform's overnight "Rocket Delivery" service and its "Wow membership program," similar to Amazon's "Prime" membership program. The high level of dependency on these daily services has made it difficult for South Korean online shoppers to migrate to rival platforms.
Meanwhile, Coupang founder Kim Beom-seok said during an earnings call on Wednesday that sales growth hit a low point in January but improved significantly throughout the spring. He noted that the speed of recovery accelerated through February and March.
By late April, we had recovered about 80 percent of the Wow members who had canceled their subscriptions after the privacy incident," Kim Beom-seok said. He added that the vast majority of existing customers and members did not leave the platform following the breach.
Performance across the broader domestic market was mixed during this period. While Gmarket saw a 12 percent rise in credit card transactions in April, 11st experienced a 9.6 percent decline. Global competitors AliExpress and Temu also saw transaction volumes fall by 7.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
The recovery in transaction volume contrasts with the company's recent financial performance. Coupang's parent company, Coupang Inc., reported a first-quarter operating loss of 354.5 billion won, or 244 million dollars, marking its first deficit in seven quarters.
Higher operational costs fueled the deficit as selling and administrative expenses jumped 17 percent to 3.72 trillion won. The company also saw its active user base decline by 700,000 during the first quarter to a total of 23.9 million people.
This shift has had a direct impact on the company's workforce. According to data from the National Pension Service of South Korea, direct employment at Coupang and its logistics subsidiaries fell by approximately 3,600 people in March alone. The total headcount for the company's direct employees stood at 87,135 at the end of March.
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