ESG Competences of K-shopping Platforms: Coupang, Kurly, and SSG.com

Owing to the influence of COVID-19, e-commerce has become a global trend, and K-shopping platforms that provide fast and easy non-contact commerce between producers and consumers, such as Coupang and Kurly, have grown rapidly. By 2022, the e-commerce penetration rate in Korea's retail market was 37%, and the online shopping transaction volume was over 209 trillion Korean won (KRW). This study examined consumer perceptions of ESG aspects related to early morning deliveries of fresh food by the e-commerce platforms Coupang, Kurly, and SSG.com. Specifically, we collected the from Naver, Daum (blogs, cafés, and the web), and Google (the web). To collect data from the three portal sites, we conducted three rounds of searches using ESG and the names of the three e-commerce platforms (Coupang, Kurly, and SSG) as keywords. Frequency Analysis, TF-IDF Analysis, Centrality Analysis, CONCOR and Faction Analysis methods were used for analysis. Based on the results of text mining analysis for each platform, we have identified three characteristics of ESG management in K-shopping platforms: (1) reflecting points of difference based on core competences in their ESG activities, (2) implementing authentic and sincere ESG activities, and (3) seeking future-oriented ESG activities that can contribute to the entire industry.