Coupang plans $1.3 billion expansion

South Korean eCommerce giant Coupang will invest 1.5 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) by 2017 to hire 40,000 delivery people called ‘Coupang Men’, and increase its number of logistics centers from 14 to 21.

This is a significantly larger-scale investment than the $1billion infusion attracted from Softbank, a Japanese IT company, in June.

To strengthen its ‘Rocket Delivery’ service, Coupang plans to increase the number of Coupang Men on staff from 3500 to 5000 by the end of the year, 10,000 during next year, and 15,000 by 2017.

In addition, the number of staff members at its logistics centers and call centers will also be increased from the current 6000 to 18,000 by 2016, and 24,000 by 2017. Altogether, a total of 40,000 new employees will be hired Coupang, which hopes to provide same-day delivery service across the country, plans to expand its number of mega logistics centers from 14 to 16 by 2016, and 21 by 2017. Their overall size is the equivalent of 110 soccer fields.

As the number of Coupang Men and logistics centers increases, the Rocket Delivery service, which is currently limited to major cities, will be offered in other areas, and a larger variety of products will be eligible for shipping through the service.

Henry Ro, Coupang’s VP, said the Rocket Delivery service provides the greatest experience to the consumers.

“The Rocket Delivery service is an integrated ‘end-to-end’ service that has never been tried in other countries.”