“More Users, Less Spending”: C-Commerce Payments Contract as Coupang Widens Lead in Logistics and Content

Chinese e-commerce platforms see payments decline despite user growth in South Korea
Coupang maintains momentum, locking in consumers with robust proprietary logistics network
Fast-growing content commerce offers little respite as C-commerce remains dogged by counterfeit stigma

Payments made on Chinese e-commerce platforms, including AliExpress, Temu and Shein—collectively referred to as C-commerce—have declined across the board in the South Korean market. As domestic market leader Coupang continues to dominate, the ability of C-commerce platforms to convert users into paying customers is steadily weakening. The widening gap appears to stem from Coupang’s logistics-driven platform lock-in effect and competitiveness in content commerce.

Declining C-Commerce Payments

According to IGAWorks’ Mobile Index on September 22, estimated credit and debit card payments across the three C-commerce platforms totaled $104.2 million last month, down 19.6% from $129.6 million a year earlier. AliExpress recorded the steepest decline. Its monthly active users (MAU) rose 15.9% year-on-year to 8,408,342 last month, but payments plunged 27.9% over the same period to $58.9 million. Dividing payments by MAU shows that spending per user contracted from $11.27 to $7.01.

Temu faced a similar situation. Its MAU increased 12.5% year-on-year to 7,951,938 last month, while payments declined 4.4% to $42.5 million. Calculated using the same method applied to AliExpress, spending per user fell from $6.29 to $5.35. Shein delivered particularly weak results, with both users (-18.2%) and payments (-19.8%) declining over the same period. Coupang, by contrast, recorded estimated card payments of $3.56 billion last month, up 12.6% from a year earlier. That figure was 34 times the combined estimated payments of the three C-commerce platforms. Coupang’s MAU also surged to 35,949,122, its highest level in the past year.

End of South Korea’s ‘C-Commerce Craze’

Several factors have contributed to this widening gap. First, South Korean consumers’ preference for C-commerce itself has weakened. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, direct purchases from China fell 5.7% year-on-year to $997.1 million in the second quarter. Growth had already stalled at 0.6% in the first quarter before turning negative outright. The prolonged strength of the dollar and controversies over the safety of products sold through C-commerce platforms appear to have weighed on consumer sentiment. Another factor cited for the decline in C-commerce demand is the expansion of low-priced product ranges by Daiso, fast-fashion brands and domestic e-commerce operators in clothing, fashion and cosmetics—the categories that had previously driven C-commerce growth.

There are also substantial differences in logistics systems. In the case of AliExpress, Alibaba Group’s logistics subsidiary Cainiao handles cross-border logistics, including domestic collection in China, international transportation and customs-clearance coordination, while final-mile delivery in South Korea is outsourced to companies such as CJ Logistics, Hanjin Transportation, Lotte Global Logistics and Korea Post Parcel Service. Temu likewise operates no proprietary delivery network in South Korea and relies on external logistics providers, with CJ Logistics and Hanjin serving as its primary partners. Temu announced last year that it would pursue the establishment of an integrated logistics system in South Korea, but there has been no official confirmation to date that the company operates a proprietary nationwide delivery network.

Table 1. Domestic Logistics Systems of C-Commerce Platforms and Coupang

Coupang’s Unrivaled Logistics System

Coupang, by contrast, has built a nationwide logistics network that directly connects product intake, storage, picking, sorting and delivery. According to Coupang’s “2025 Impact Report,” the company operates more than 100 logistics hubs across 30 regions nationwide, with its total logistics infrastructure spanning approximately 4.3 million square meters. More than $2.16 billion was invested between 2024 and 2026 in new fulfillment centers (FCs), delivery-network expansion and other initiatives. The company has also moved rapidly to adopt advanced technology. Coupang uses artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast regional product demand and prepositions items with a high probability of sale at logistics centers close to consumers before orders are placed. Once an order is received, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) inside the center transport shelves holding the relevant products to workstations, while automated equipment sorts packaged goods by delivery region.

The processed products are then transferred to regional delivery hubs and delivery camps before being delivered to end consumers through the Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) network. Based on this system, Coupang operates Rocket Delivery, which guarantees direct same-day, dawn or next-day delivery, and Rocket Fresh dawn delivery, which delivers fresh-food orders placed before midnight by 7 a.m. the following day. These services are a key driver of Coupang’s user lock-in—the tendency of consumers to remain tied to a particular product or service.

Strengthening Content-Commerce Integration

Coupang has also built an ecosystem combining content and commerce around its proprietary over-the-top (OTT) streaming service, Coupang Play. Coupang Play is currently available free of charge on an ad-supported basis to anyone with a Coupang account, but selected content, benefits for booking sports and performance tickets, and discounts on certain paid passes are offered exclusively to Coupang Wow membership subscribers. This structure naturally channels demand for content into Coupang’s membership system. Wow membership bundles Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh, free delivery through Coupang Eats and Coupang Play-related benefits. The content platform itself has also expanded its user base substantially. According to IGAWorks’ Mobile Index, Coupang Play’s MAU increased 15.97% from the previous month to 10,067,459 in August, surpassing 10 million for the first time.

Coupang is also preparing a service that will produce and showcase sellers’ products as short-form content. According to retail industry sources, Coupang Ads, the company’s advertising business unit, plans to launch a tentatively named “Coupang Shorts Production Package” next month. Under the service, Coupang will plan and produce vertical short-form videos featuring products from sellers that have purchased advertising, publishing them in the Shorts section of the Coupang platform and on its official YouTube channel. The completed videos will also be provided to sellers for use in their own social networking service (SNS) marketing on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.

C-Commerce Hamstrung by Its ‘Image’

Coupang’s focus on short-form marketing reflects changing consumption patterns. Demand for so-called “discovery shopping”—in which consumers purchase products they first encounter while watching short-form or livestream content—has recently been growing across the e-commerce market, while the creator market underpinning this model is also expanding rapidly. According to global market research firm Grand View Research, the global creator economy is projected to grow from $252.3 billion last year to $1.3455 trillion by 2033. Over the same period, South Korea’s creator market is forecast to expand from $3.7 billion to $31.2 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 30.5%.

Market observers believe C-commerce platforms are relatively unlikely to benefit from this shift in South Korea. Consumer trust in these platforms remains low amid controversies over the distribution of counterfeit and hazardous goods, meaning that creators who promote the platforms or their products risk having the negative perception that they are “selling or advertising counterfeit goods” transferred to them, potentially damaging both channel credibility and brand value. This consumer distrust is being further reinforced by actual statistics. According to data submitted by the Intellectual Property Office to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Baek Jong-heon, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, 1,291 counterfeit cosmetic listings were blocked on Alibaba.com, the Alibaba Group’s business-to-business (B2B) platform, between January and August this year, up 124.5% from 575 during the same period last year. The number of blocked listings on Alibaba Group’s business-to-consumer (B2C) platform AliExpress also increased 162.9% over the same period, from 140 to 368.