SEOUL – Online shopping in South Korea grew 20% in October from a year earlier as the coronavirus outbreak prompted people to buy goods via e-commerce platforms, data shows today, reported Yonhap News Agency.
The value of online transactions stood at ₩14.2 trillion (RM52.7 billion) in October, compared with ₩11.9 trillion the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
The use of online shopping has been on the rise this year amid the pandemic as people refrain from visiting offline stores on concerns about infection risks.
Online sales of food delivery services jumped 71.6% from a year earlier to ₩1.56 trillion in October on the back of demand by stay-at-home customers. Sales of food and beverages also soared 43.8% to ₩1.7 trillion.
Online sales of electronic goods gained 39.6% on-year to ₩1.72 trillion in October, data showed.
But online sales of travel-related services and cultural and leisure services declined on-year in October due to the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sales of travel-related items declined 52.6% on-year to ₩679.6 billion, while those of cultural and leisure services tumbled 60.4% to ₩74.2 billion.
Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 22.9% on-year to ₩9.54 trillion in October, accounting for 66.9% of the total value of online shopping. – Bernama, December 3, 2020
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