'They always come back': Coupang loyalty metric rises for 2nd straight quarter

Coupang Inc's prepaid balance — which plunged after a massive personal data breach — has risen for two consecutive quarters, signaling a recovery. Estimated payment volumes and monthly active users have also surpassed pre-breach levels, hitting all-time highs.

According to industry data released Friday, the prepaid balance held in Coupang Pay, Coupang Inc's mobile payment service, stood at about 114.9 billion won ($76.1 million) at the end of the second quarter. That is up 200 million won (0.2%) from the first quarter's 114.7 billion won and 2.7 billion won (2.4%) above the fourth quarter of last year — the period immediately following the data breach — when the balance stood at 112.2 billion won.

Prepaid balances represent funds that users deposit in advance on a platform. They are closely tied to what the industry calls a "lock-in effect" and serve as a gauge of customer loyalty. Coupang Pay's prepaid balance had reached a record high of about 123.5 billion won in the third quarter of last year, before the breach, then plunged 11.3 billion won (9.1%) quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter — its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2023, when it stood at 109.8 billion won. The balance has now risen for two straight quarters.

The recovery is attributed to the return of loyal customers who have grown increasingly dependent on Coupang Inc through its Rocket Delivery, dawn delivery and integrated Wow membership services. While some consumers initially moved to cancel their accounts in the immediate aftermath of the breach, they appear to have been unable to break away from the platform when it came to actual purchases.

Estimated payment volumes have also climbed. According to Mobile Index, a data service operated by IGAWorks, Coupang Inc's estimated credit and debit card payment volume last month reached 4.83 trillion won — up 360.2 billion won (8.1%) from 4.47 trillion won in November last year, when the data breach occurred. That marks an all-time high. Coupang Inc's payment volume had dipped to 4.02 trillion won in February before recovering, and has now held above 4.8 trillion won for two consecutive months.

Monthly active users have also surpassed prior levels. Coupang Inc's MAU last month reached about 35.09 million, up 670,000 (1.9%) from 34.42 million in November last year. The figure is up 4.4% from 33.62 million a year earlier — before the breach — setting a new all-time record.

Domestic e-commerce rivals that had hoped to benefit from a Coupang exodus, meanwhile, posted weak results. G-Market's estimated credit and debit card payment volume last month came to 283.7 billion won, down 34.2% from the previous month's 431 billion won and 33.7% below the 427.8 billion won recorded in November last year. 11Street's payment volume last month was 270.9 billion won, up 4.0% from the previous month's 260.4 billion won, but down 22.4% from 348.9 billion won in November last year. SSG.com, which launched a membership program called "SSG Seven Club" offering 7 percent rewards in January, also saw its payment volume fall 5.1% month-on-month to 228.4 billion won last month, down 15.1% from 269.1 billion won in November last year..