SEOUL, Feb. 26 (GeokHub) — South Korea’s antitrust regulator has imposed a 2.2 billion won ($1.55 million) fine on Coupang, accusing the country’s largest e-commerce platform of pressuring suppliers to cut prices, shoulder additional costs and endure delayed payments.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said Thursday that Coupang violated the nation’s large-scale retail business law by demanding supply price reductions and requiring vendors to absorb advertising and service-related expenses to meet company-imposed profit margin targets.
“As the overwhelming No.1 market leader, Coupang forced suppliers to bear sacrifices in order to maintain its profit margins,” the regulator said in a statement, adding that the company used retaliatory tactics such as suspending or reducing orders when suppliers resisted.
Margin Targets and Supplier Pressure
According to the KFTC, Coupang set gross margin benchmarks and required suppliers to cover additional expenses, including advertising fees, participation in its “Coupang Experience Group” review program, and premium data services.
Under the program, selected customers receive free or discounted products in exchange for posting reviews. The regulator said suppliers were compelled to bear the costs associated with these initiatives to help the company maintain its profitability targets.
When vendors failed to meet margin expectations, Coupang allegedly negotiated lower supply prices or implied that orders could be reduced or suspended, using order cuts as leverage.
Delayed Payments Impacted Thousands of Vendors
In a separate finding, the regulator said Coupang delayed payments in more than 508,000 direct purchase transactions involving 25,715 suppliers between October 2021 and June 2024.
The total value of delayed payments amounted to approximately 281 billion won, according to the commission.
The ruling adds regulatory pressure to Coupang, which is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
