Coupang CEO on list of world’s most creative businesspeople

Kim Beom-seok, also known as Kim Bom, CEO of South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, has been named one of the most creative business leaders by US business magazine Fast Company, officials said Monday.

Kim ranked 23rd on the magazine’s 10th annual list of the 100 most creative people in business this year, in recognition of the company’s innovative delivery system and its impact on the e-commerce industry.

The Korean company was especially recognized for its fast delivery system, which allows users who place orders before midnight to receive goods by 7 a.m. the next day.

“Coupang has fundamentally changed people’s lives in a country that is marked for its dense population, long working hours and commuting hours,” the company quoted the magazine as saying.

Early morning delivery “allows office workers to start the day with a fresh salad breakfast, while helping working parents procure their children’s school supplies at any given time.”

Coupang has also used artificial intelligence to gather user experience data and help customers find items more easily.

In addition, its one-touch mobile payment service, which does not require a password entry or a fingerprint, was recognized for its fraud-detection function.

“Our goal is to create a market environment in which customers may not even imagine a world without Coupang,” Kim said.

“We can only achieve this by making groundbreaking changes. Incremental improvements will not be sufficient.”

Introduced in 2008, the annual list of most creative people in business features figures who have taken tangible steps in various sectors.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)