Data from IGAWorks MobileIndex on Monday showed Coupang's monthly active users (MAU) reaching 35.03 million in March, up from 33.64 million in February and 34.01 million in January. The figure marks a decisive rebound from a three-month slide that began after the New York-listed company disclosed the breach in late November 2025.
Coupang's estimated monthly payment volume also recovered. The platform's transaction value climbed to about 4.62 trillion won ($3.06 billion) in March, a 12.22 percent increase year-on-year, accumulative transaction value for the whole of the first quarter also rising 11.26 percent to 13 trillion won.
Even with the info leak crisis, the gap between Coupang and its domestic competitors still remained vast. The nearest Korean rivals in March were 11st with 8.15 million monthly users, Naver Plus Store with 7.77 million and Gmarket with 6.81 million, according to MobileIndex.
Among domestic platforms, Naver Plus Store posted the sharpest gains behind Coupang, with its March MAU hitting a record 7.77 million — a 9 percent jump from 7.1 million the previous month, the shopping app's momentum reported to be bolstered by an AI-powered counterfeit monitoring system and a one-strike seller removal policy.
"This is a leading case in which platform self-regulation has simultaneously achieved consumer protection and merchant growth," Naver's user protection committee chairman Kwon Hun-yeong said.
Chinese-backed platforms continued to tighten their grip on the market. Temu, operated by PDD Holdings, drew 7.42 million monthly users in March, while Alibaba Group's AliExpress recorded 7.12 million. Their combined user base of about 14.54 million outstripped every individual domestic rival except Coupang.
Temu also topped all shopping apps in new installations for a second consecutive month, logging about 749,000 fresh downloads in March, followed by Naver Plus Store at about 674,000. Coupang trailed with 461,000 new installations, a sign that its commanding market share rests more on the loyalty of its existing user base than on fresh customer acquisition.
Industry observers said the data underscored an increasingly bifurcated market: Coupang's entrenched logistics network and same-day delivery infrastructure continue to lock in existing users, while Chinese platforms are leveraging ultra-low prices and aggressive marketing to capture price-sensitive newcomers at a pace domestic rivals have struggled to match.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
