The Long View: Food Delivery Deep Dive - Coupang Eats‘ next growth question... rural Korea or Japan?

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The Long View: Food Delivery Deep Dive - Coupang Eats‘ next growth question... rural Korea or Japan?

24 July 2026

Korea Internet & Japan Consumer

The Long View: Food Delivery Deep Dive - Coupang Eats' next

growth question... rural Korea or Japan?

With Korea's food delivery market stabilizing, investor focus is shifting to where the Min-Joo Kang

+852 2123 2644 incremental growth to come for Coupang Eats. The key questions are whether Coupang

minjoo.kang@bernsteinsg.com can expand into rural Korea through a 3P rider model and scale Rocket Now in Japan. We

think lower order density and higher customer acquisition costs suggest structurally weaker

Robin Zhu economics than Korea's metropolitan markets, making meaningful GMV expansion harder

+852 2123 2659

robin.zhu@bernsteinsg.com than it may appear. In this note, we assess the long-term potential of both growth avenues.

What if Coupang Eats adopts a 3P model for Korean rural region expansion? This is a Yugo Shima

+81 3 6777 6994 common investor question. In theory, a 3P network could improve geographic coverage and

yugo.shima@bernsteinsg.com reduce capital intensity. In practice, the economics are less attractive for both of Coupang

and 3P rider networks. More importantly, some of the largest independent rider operators

Charles Gou (i.e., Barogo, Vroong) have strategic links to Coupang’s competitors (i.e., Delivery Hero +852 2123 2618

charles.gou@bernsteinsg.com (covered by Annick Maas), Naver), creating questions around incentive alignment.

Hyrum Caesar Coupang Eats in Japan… Replaying the Korea playbook? Coupang Eats' expansion

+81 3 6777 6979 in Japan looks strikingly similar to the strategy it used to gain share in Korea. Just as

hyrum.caesar@bernsteinsg.com