Coupang expands Taiwan AI logistics to reach 70% coverage

Coupang opened its fourth logistics center in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and expanded next-day Rocket Delivery coverage to around 70% of the island as it ramps up investment there.

The new site uses AI and robotics to extend service into central and southern Taiwan.

The number of small businesses selling on its platform rose to more than 300,000 by end-2024, from about 230,000 in 2023.

Sellers transaction volume on Coupang rose over 20% year-on-year in 2024, vs. 0.2% growth for small businesses nationwide.

More than 10,000 Korean SMEs sell to Taiwan via its platform, with the company handling customs clearance and logistics.

🔗 Source: Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Taiwan’s growth comes with a nearly $1 billion price tag

Coupang is growing its physical footprint in Taiwan, and its “growth business” segment, which includes Taiwan, Farfetch, Coupang Eats and Coupang Play, is expected to record an adjusted EBITDA loss of up to $950 million in 2025 1.
Leadership tied the larger loss to faster investment in Taiwan, and said customer adoption there resembles the early, cash-heavy period of its South Korea business 2.
Funding comes from South Korea operations, where the product commerce segment delivered $705 million in adjusted EBITDA in Q3 2025 2.

Logistics that feeds data and payments growth

The Taiwan push follows a model that pairs delivery, retail, data, and payments to build a fuller commerce business 1.
The starting point is a company-run delivery network and first-party retail, meaning Coupang sells and delivers goods directly rather than relying entirely on outside merchants and couriers, which produces customer data.
In South Korea, Coupang uses that first-party data to run services such as Rocket Pay, the company’s payments feature, which helps keep customers coming back 3.
As Taiwan logistics scales, it can support similar higher-margin services, giving Coupang an advantage beyond delivery speed 2.