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Retail sales in South Korea (Yonhap) |
Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in May as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid the pandemic-induced contactless trend, data showed Tuesday.
The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.1 trillion won ($14 billion) in May, up 26 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
The May reading marked the largest since November 2001, when the statistics agency began compiling related data.
Amid an economic recovery and a non-contact consumption trend, online purchases of goods and services jumped, led by demand for foodstuffs and food delivery, the agency said.
Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 31.6 percent on-year to 11.4 trillion won in May. Mobile shopping accounted for 71.2 percent of the total value of online shopping.
Online transactions of food delivery services jumped 62.2 percent on-year to 2.14 trillion won, and those of food and beverages rose 38.1 percent to 2.04 trillion won.
Purchases of electronic goods increased 18.1 percent on-year to 2.52 trillion won on the back of demand by stay-at-home people.
Online shopping of travel-related services rose 38.4 percent to 782 billion won in May due largely to last year's low base and increased activity amid warm weather. (Yonhap)
