In South Korea, the online retail sector is dominated by a tech company called Coupang. Founded in 2010, Coupang is based in Seoul and incorporated in the U.S. state of Delaware. It primarily serves Korea, but has recently expanded operations into Japan and Taiwan as well. Coupang now has a total of more than 65,000 employees around the globe.

"If I had to make a comparison to U.S. tech companies, I would say that Coupang is a combination of Amazon, Netflix, and Uber Eats," says Eddie Hong, group treasurer. "We are the largest e-commerce player in South Korea, and in addition to our various e-commerce services, our offerings encompass everything from video streaming and cold-chain logistics to food delivery and fintech."

Adds Marisa Lee, Coupang's head of international PR: "What is most distinctive about Coupang is the customer experience. We provide end-to-end services for which we own and operate every part of the process—and because we have those fully integrated systems, we can offer an experience like no other. For example, we have a service called 'Dawn Delivery,' where customers can order an item by midnight and have it delivered to their door before 7 a.m. the next morning. Dawn Delivery is available across Korea for millions of products."