Food, shopping, gaming app usage up amid virus outbreak: data

SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- The usage of food, shopping and gaming mobile applications increased sharply last month in South Korea, data showed Tuesday, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The number of food and beverage apps installed organically in South Korea between Feb. 1 and March 2 increased about 39 percent compared with January, while that of shopping apps rose about 18 percent, according to mobile attribution and marketing analytics firm AppsFlyer.

Organic installing refers to people downloading an app on their own without seeing a mobile advertising campaign.

In terms of purchase actions on the apps, gaming apps saw a 35 percent increase, while food and beverage apps reported a 12 percent rise and shopping apps had a 4 percent increase, AppsFlyer said.

Industry insiders said the increase usage of such apps is tied to people limiting their outdoor activities due to the novel coronavirus.

"We can see that the app market is heavily affected by COVID-19 as any other market," said Charlie Moon, the general manager of AppsFlyer Korea. "Empirically, the consumer industry is always hit the biggest during epidemics but is also the fastest to recover."

kdon@yna.co.kr
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