Online shopping hits record high in August

Published : Oct 2, 2019 - 13:26 Updated : Oct 2, 2019 - 13:26

The total value of goods purchased via online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in August, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things, ranging from clothes to electronic goods.

The total value of online transactions reached 11.25 trillion won ($9.3 billion) in August, the highest level since Statistics Korea started collecting data on online shopping in January 2001.

(Yonhap)

From a year earlier, the value of online shopping rose 21.4 percent, or by 1.98 trillion won, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

In August, sales of electronic goods and computers jumped 22.9 percent on-year to 1.7 trillion won, demand for clothes increased 5 percent to 912.4 billion won and online sales of food and beverages rose 33.1 percent to 1.19 trillion won.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets soared 27.2 percent on-year to 7.3 trillion won, accounting for 65.1 percent of all online sales in August.

South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world, with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates. (Yonhap)