Korean social commerce firm Coupang said Thursday it is aiming to be listed on the U.S. stock market by 2013 after cementing its position as the country’s top electronic commerce company.
Kim Bom-suk, chief executive of the company, said it will also enter the overseas market to compete with global industrial players following its listing on the NASDAQ.
“We will first gather the funding which will be available after our listing and go overseas when the time is right,” he said following a press conference held to celebrate its first anniversary. “A specific plan has not been devised yet.”
Coupang’s chief executive Kim Bom-suk speaks at a press conference organized to celebrate the firm’s first anniversary in downtown Seoul on Thursday. (Coupang)
Claiming to be a “Korean discovery shopping platform” rather than a social commerce firm, Coupang will continue building its brand power in Korea by investing more in building infrastructure and a bigger membership base.
“What is important at this stage is creation of a company infrastructure and making more investments for the firm to produce healthy figures in sales,” he said. “Coupang wishes to be a social commerce firm representing Korea, which is why we’re planning to inject long-term investments.”
Coupang, established in August last year, has seen an average of 63-percent growth per month and has recorded 5.18 million in membership as of July. The business volume has reached 30 billion won ($27.94 million) solely in July, a large leap from 190 million won recorded in August 2010, being positioned as the nation’s No. 1 industrial player in terms of business volume.
The company has also received the top position in many online customer satisfaction surveys.
“We cannot unveil the exact figure, but the increase of cash in our hands suggests we’re on a growing streak,” said Kim. “We’re targeting to get listed in the U.S. stock market within two years through the success of our brand Coupang in Korea.”
By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)
