South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang announced Monday that it will expand its Rocket Jikgu service coverage to Japan, following its fast-delivery service launches for the US, China and Hong Kong.

The expansion of Rocket Jikgu, an overseas direct purchase service, will now allow the direct purchase in Korea of products from Japan.

The Japanese overseas direct purchase market grew by 11 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, with major categories including fashion, food and home goods, according to Korea’s Statistical Information Service. In particular, food transactions surged about 45 percent year-on-year.

Despite rapidly increasing demand for direct purchases from Japan among domestic consumers, the variety of Japanese direct purchase services available domestically has been limited, and their price competitiveness has been low.

The new service is to offer products from well-known food and snack brands like Nissin, Meiji and AGF, along with household and beauty brands popular in Korea, such as Senka, Biore and Tsubaki. It will also broaden its selection to include home and kitchen brands like Ishida and Joseph Joseph, as well as book and stationery products from Zebra, Mitsubishi, Pentel and more.

"We will continue to strive to showcase a variety of global products based on Coupang's competitive advantages in overseas direct purchase services, such as reasonable prices and fast delivery,” a company official said.

Coupang plans to run various promotions, including a 3,000 won ($2.30) discount coupon for purchases over 45,000 won on all Japanese direct purchase products and selected products from the US and China from Monday to Thursday.