Coupang Data Analyst Interview Questions + Guide in 2024

Coupang is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce companies, making significant strides in revolutionizing the shopping experience. With a mission to wow customers, employees, and partners, Coupang aims to create a world where people wonder, “How did we ever live without Coupang?” As a global company with offices in Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Silicon Valley, Coupang pushes the boundaries of what’s possible.

With Interview Query, we’ll guide you through the interview process, share common Coupang data analyst interview questions, and offer valuable tips to help you succeed.

The interview process usually depends on the role and seniority. However, you can expect the following on a Coupang Data Analyst interview:

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your resume catches the recruiter’s eye, expect a call from the Coupang Talent Acquisition Team to verify critical details about your experiences and technical skills. This initial screening might include behavioral questions and general queries about your career motivations.

Sometimes, a hiring manager may also participate in the screening call to answer questions about the role and the company and engage in surface-level discussions about your technical and behavioral competencies.

Typically, this recruiter call lasts around 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Passing the recruiter screening progresses you to a technical virtual interview. This one-hour session usually involves videoconferencing and screen sharing. Questions may cover Coupang’s data systems, SQL queries, ETL pipelines, and data analytics.

You might receive a take-home assignment related to product metrics, analytics, and data visualization, which you must complete and submit within a designated time frame. Additionally, expect to be evaluated on hypothesis testing, probability distributions, and fundamental machine learning concepts.

Senior roles may also involve case studies or real-world problem scenarios.

Onsite Interview Rounds

If you clear the technical virtual interview, a second recruiter call will outline the next steps for the onsite interview loop. This final stage involves multiple interviews, possibly across a day, to assess your technical expertise, programming skills, and analytical capabilities. You’ll interact with a mix of data scientists, directors, and senior managers.

If you are given a take-home exercise, you might need to present your findings during one of the on-site interview rounds.

Typically, interviews at Coupang vary by role and team, but commonly Data Analyst interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

1. Write a function to find the nearest common ancestor of two nodes in a binary tree.

Given a binary tree of unique positive numbers, write a function to return the value of the nearest node that is a parent to both given nodes. If one of the nodes doesn’t exist in the tree, return -1.

2. Create a function plan_trip to reconstruct the path of a trip from unordered flight segments.

Given a list of flights out of order, each with a starting city and end city, write a function to reconstruct the path of the trip so the trip tickets are in order.

3. Write a function to compute the minimum number of parking spots needed for buses.

Given a list of tuples representing the arrival and departure times of buses, write a function to compute the minimum number of parking spots needed to accommodate all the buses.

4. Write a SQL query to calculate the 3-day weighted moving average of sales for each product.

Write a SQL query to calculate the 3-day weighted moving average of sales for each product using weights 0.5 for the current day, 0.3 for the previous day, and 0.2 for the day before that. Only output the weighted moving average for dates that have two or more preceding dates.

5. How would you set up an A/B test for multiple changes in a sign-up funnel?

A team wants to A/B test changes in a sign-up funnel, such as changing a button from red to blue and/or moving it from the top to the bottom of the page. How would you set up this test?

6. Where and how could you promote Instagram through Facebook?

You work on Facebook’s growth team and need to promote Instagram within the Facebook app. Where and how would you promote Instagram through Facebook?

7. What metrics/graphs/models would you use to analyze churn behavior for different pricing plans?

Netflix has two pricing plans: $15/month or $100/year. An executive wants an analysis of churn behavior for these plans. What metrics, graphs, or models would you use to provide an overarching view of subscription performance?

8. How would you analyze an A/B test with non-normal distribution for Uber Fleet?

Uber Fleet has low data for experimentation, and an A/B test shows a non-normal distribution. What kind of analysis would you run, and how would you measure which variant won?

9. What retention rate is required to surpass revenue from a non-subscription price?

You sell an e-commerce product for $29 with a 50% per unit margin. You want to offer a monthly subscription at a 20% discount on the retail price. What retention rate would be required to surpass the revenue from the non-subscription price?

10. What metrics would you use to track the accuracy and validity of a spam classifier model?

You are tasked with building a spam classifier for emails and have built a V1 of the model. What metrics would you use to track its accuracy and validity?

11. When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm?

You are comparing two machine learning algorithms. In which case would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Provide an example of the tradeoffs between the two.

12. What are the assumptions of linear regression?

List and explain the assumptions that must hold true for linear regression to be valid.

13. How would you build a restaurant recommender on Facebook?

Describe how you would gather data and build a restaurant recommender system on Facebook. What are some potential downfalls or concerns with adding this feature?

14. How would you design the YouTube video recommendation algorithm?

You are tasked with building the YouTube video recommendation algorithm. How would you design the recommendation system? What important factors should be considered when building the recommendation algorithm?

15. How would you explain what a p-value is to someone who is not technical?

Explain the concept of a p-value in simple terms to a non-technical person, focusing on its role in determining the significance of results in experiments or studies.

16. What could be the cause of the decrease in overall capital approval rates?

Capital approval rates dropped from 85% to 82% despite individual product approval rates staying flat or increasing. Analyze potential causes for the overall decrease.

17. What is the probability that both flips result in the same side with one fair and one biased coin?

Given one fair coin and one biased coin (³⁄₄ probability of heads), calculate the probability that two flips result in the same side.

18. What is the percentage chance a review is actually fake when the algorithm detects it as fake?

With 98% legitimate and 2% fake reviews, and given the algorithm’s accuracy rates, determine the probability that a review is fake when identified as fake by the algorithm.

You should plan to brush up on any technical skills and try as many practice interview questions and mock interviews as possible. A few tips for acing your Coupang data analyst interview include:

• Brush Up on Your SQL and Statistics Skills: SQL and statistical knowledge are critical components of the interview process. Use tools like Interview Query to practice SQL coding questions and statistical problems.
• Understand Coupang’s Business: Familiarize yourself with Coupang’s business model, including their e-commerce operations, customer experience enhancements, and product metrics. This will help you answer questions like “Why Coupang?” confidently.
• Be Prepared for Behavioral Questions: Prepare to discuss your past projects, your problem-solving approaches, and your experience with A/B testing and data visualization tools.

What is the average salary for a Data Analyst at Coupang?

What are the main responsibilities of a Data Analyst at Coupang?

As a Data Analyst at Coupang, you’ll lead several impactful projects involving data analysis, ensuring data quality, availability, and depth. The role involves creating actionable insights through data integration, conducting A/B testing with statistical rigor, and communicating results effectively. You’ll use tools like SQL, Tableau, and Power BI to develop dashboards and analyze diverse datasets.

What skills and qualifications are required for the Data Analyst position at Coupang?

The ideal candidate should have a degree in a quantitative field (STEM, Finance, Economics, Statistics) and at least 3 years of experience in data analysis roles. Proficiency in SQL and experience with big data technologies like Hadoop and Spark are crucial. Additionally, skills in data visualization tools (Excel, Tableau, Power BI), and statistical analysis using Python or R/SAS are preferred.

What makes Coupang an exciting place to work?

Coupang offers a unique combination of a startup culture with the resources of a large global public company. They are focused on innovation, customer satisfaction, and rapid growth. Employees at Coupang are given the opportunity to make a significant impact and grow both personally and professionally in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Coupang’s commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences and constant innovation is evident in its selective and thorough recruitment process. It’s looking for analysts ready to drive strategic projects, dive deep into marketing and product data, and communicate insights clearly to senior leadership.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Coupang Interview Guide, where we have covered many interview questions that could be asked. At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every Coupang data analyst interview question and challenge.

Good luck with your interview!