Meet Jacob — Supply & Distribution Director at Coupang Travel

Hello Jacob. Please introduce yourself.    

Hello, my name is Jacob. As a Director, I lead the Supply & Distribution team of Coupang Travel. I've been working at Coupang for a little over a year now. The reason I joined was that I was drawn to the challenge of solving problems that occur while supplying and selling a variety of intangible products related to travel successfully on an e-commerce platform.  

Can you describe what you do to help candidates understand better?   

My team is responsible for sourcing travel products so that products desired by customers can be offered on Coupang and ensuring they are sold at competitive prices with quality services in the market. My role is to understand customer needs and demands that change dynamically by analyzing various business metrics and internal/external data and based on the understanding, collaborate and discuss with product suppliers and plan a variety of promotions to maximize sales. In addition, I work closely with suppliers as well as our Marketing, Operations, and Finance teams daily to design products and prices for WOW members only.   

What are your backgrounds?  How do you think those backgrounds were helpful when you joined Coupang or in your current job?   

I have over 10 years of experience working in Singapore for a global IT consulting/travel search booking service platform in roles including GTM consulting/business development/partnership management, etc. During that time, my main job was to lead communications between internal/external stakeholders and prioritize tasks based on data analysis, which is now a very important asset in performing my job at Coupang. In particular, the distribution structure of travel products and the importance of customer behavior and experience, which I learned when I worked for the global platform providing flight/hotel/rental car searching and booking services, helped me a lot in my role here.    

Tell us about the unique culture of Travel if there is any.   

I think we have a culture of prioritizing the overall growth and performance of the team. All the members share the team’s goals and vision and are committed to contributing to the team's success with their capabilities. In my team, individual growth is driven by the growth of the team and the support from every member that encourages each other.    

Tell us about your most memorable or proudest moment since joining Travel.   

One of my best memories is when we were awarded a champion slot as a travel product became the number one seller during the Gold Box promotion. This was an eye-opener that helped us find customer needs and potential for travel products.  

Do you have any final goal you want to achieve as part of the Travel team?   

I would like to achieve vertical expansion of products offered by Travel. Our goal is to offer products at competitive prices and quality services for WOW members in a sustainable manner and ultimately provide one-stop services that allow customers to easily compare, search, and book all domestic and overseas travel products/services.  

Is there anything you want to share with potential candidates who want to join Travel?   

In compliance with “Wow the Customer,” one of Coupang’s leadership principles, the mindset of putting customers first is most important.  We are looking for someone who has a customer-centric mindset and ability to make data-driven decisions and is interested in exploring various ways to drive innovative yet tangible results by thinking outside of the box (i.e., market conventions/practices). The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of the distribution structure of travel products.