Retail sales up 4.6 pct in Nov. on online shopping demand

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's retail sales rose in November from a year earlier, led by strong growth in online shopping, government data showed Sunday.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said online sales surged 12.7 percent on-year, while offline store demand contracted 0.5 percent in the one-month period.

It said while sales figures for convenience stores and chain supermarkets or super supermarkets (SSMs) rose 6.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, corresponding numbers for large discount outlets and department stores were down 2.8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Sales at convenience stores were buoyed by ready-to-eat food products, with SSMs growth being fueled by miscellaneous household goods.

In regards to online shopping, the latest tally showed a rise in both direct sales and middle merchants in the goods trade. Sales of direct sales shot up 17.5 percent compared with the year before, while numbers for the merchant trade expanded 10.9 percent, mainly thanks to orders placed for Black Friday in the U.S. and the China Global Shopping Festival.

By items sold, the service sector rose 13.1 percent with electronics gaining 10.8 percent. On the other hand, fashion products contracted 7.9 percent vis-a-vis November 2017, the ministry's latest data showed.

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