Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS) said on the 22nd that it will fully compensate marketplace sellers for the entire amount of inventory losses caused by the fire at the Incheon logistics center on the 18th.
Those eligible for compensation are sellers who use CFS's logistics agency service "Rocket Growth." Unlike "Rocket Delivery," in which Coupang directly purchases and sells products, Rocket Growth is a system in which CFS handles storage, management, and delivery of individual sellers' products on their behalf. CFS decided to fully compensate not only the inventory in the area that caught fire but also the inventory in areas where the flames did not spread. The aim, it said, is to proactively prevent secondary damage such as delays in outbound processing or dust contamination.
CFS said, "To support sellers whose inventory was lost and whose operations were disrupted, we decided to move forward with compensation proactively under the company's responsibility even before the fire investigation and insurance procedures are completed." Typically, it takes a long time to estimate fire-related inventory losses through loss assessment, and sellers bear the burden of directly proving their losses, but CFS said it will skip this process.
CFS plans to individually notify sellers from mid-Aug. of each seller's total compensation amount and the scheduled payment date as soon as inventory counts are compiled. It will not separately request supporting materials such as invoices or packing videos and will instead use its internal systems to determine inventory status. It will also operate a "Rocket Growth dedicated seller support desk" to provide one-on-one consultations to handle seller inquiries.
A CFS official said, "We will do our best, with a sense of responsibility, to support our valued partner sellers so they do not face business difficulties because of this incident."
The fire began at about 6:54 a.m. on the 18th at Coupang's 32nd logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohae District, Incheon. It broke out on the sixth floor and spread to the seventh floor, and was brought under initial control at about 8 p.m. on the 20th, roughly 61 hours after it started. The center, with a total floor area of 299,000 square meters and eight stories above ground, struggled with firefighting because large quantities of highly flammable goods were piled up and the interior layout was complex.
Meanwhile, on the 20th, CFS, in consultation with the Incheon Office of Education, delivered 13,500 masks to students and faculty at eight elementary schools near the logistics center. It also deployed nursing staff to two nearby temporary shelters to support residents' health management and decided to operate hospital shuttle buses and provide assistance with medical expenses.