E-commerce competition set to rise with Coupang said to be entering Singapore

Singapore

SOUTH-EAST Asia's e-commerce market is set to get more crowded, with South Korea's e-commerce giant, Coupang, reported to be expanding into Singapore.

Coupang, which has been called South Korea's Amazon, is looking to hire senior executives in the city-state. The company's LinkedIn page shows recently-listed job openings for roles such as head of operations, head of retail and head of logistics in Singapore.

Last week, The Korea Economic Daily Global Edition (KED) reported that New York Stock Exchange-listed Coupang is moving forward with its global expansion plans by entering the Singapore market - its first overseas entry in 11 years of operation.

According to KED, Coupang "since last month has been recruiting hundreds of employees in Singapore, from entry level to executive positions across various functions including logistics, marketing, sales, payment, artificial intelligence and product sourcing".

The reported expansion could spark greater competition in the e-commerce market here, where key players include Sea-subsidiary Shopee, Alibaba-backed Lazada, as well as Qoo10 and Amazon.

In February, Coupang's founder and chief executive Kim Bom Suk reportedly said that the primary motive for listing in the US was to "compete against Amazon and Alibaba".

Coupang raised US$4.6 billion in its initial public offering on the NYSE in March. The company's shares have since risen over 30 per cent from the US$35 offering price to close at US$45.90 on Friday.

KED cited sources saying that the "earlier-than-expected global expansion has largely to do with its tremendous IPO success in the US".

Coupang picked Singapore as its first overseas market as the city-state will provide a perfect test-bed for Coupang's digital logistics business optimised for densely populated areas, KED reported.

For instance, the company could roll out its same-day "Rocket Delivery" service, to try and gain an edge over its rivals.

While Singapore has a relatively small domestic market, an entry here could pave the way for Coupang to move into the larger South-east Asia market, which has a population of over 650 million.

Other major e-commerce players in the region include Indonesia's Bukalapak and Tokopedia.

South-east Asia's e-commerce market saw total annual transactions hit US$62 billion last year, a 63 per cent jump from 2019, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report published by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.

The report projects for the region's e-commerce annual transactions to grow to US$172 billion by 2025.