Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, on Wednesday resumed the same- or next-day delivery service dubbed Rocket Delivery for food maker CJ Cheiljedang Corp., the two companies said, ending their nearly two-year dispute over price cuts.
CJ’s popular precooked rice Hetbahn and frozen and refrigerated foods under its flagship brand Bibigo are now available through Coupang’s Rocket Delivery.
Coupang has also started offering Rocket Delivery for CJ’s processed and instant foods, as well as its cooking oils and fermented sauces such as gochujang and ddoenjang.
By the end of September, all major CJ food products will be added to the list of items eligible for same- or next-day delivery once an order is placed
To do so, Coupang will buy those products from CJ and deliver them directly to customers.
“Coupang felt a sense of crisis when it saw CJ CheilJedang collaborating with AliExpress as Chinese e-commerce rivals stepped up their ultra-low price offensive,” said a retail industry official.
“For CJ CheilJedang, it would be hard to give up its business with Coupang, Korea’s largest retailer,” he added.
In December 2022, Coupang suspended its Rocket Delivery service for CJ after the two sides failed to settle a dispute over pricing CJ products on its platform.
In 2021, the Korea Fair Trade Commission found that Coupang had forced 101 suppliers to raise their selling prices on other online malls, while keeping their prices unchanged on Coupang. In connection with the finding, Coupang was fined 3.3 billion won ($2.4 million) and issued a corrective order.
Coupang’s reconciliation with CJ came about half a year after it resumed Rocket Delivery service for LG H&H Co. in January, ending their five-year feud over promotional costs and selling price cuts.
LG sells daily necessities, beauty products and drinks on the e-commerce platform.
By Jae-Kwang Ahn
ahnjk@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article
