Online shopping hits record high in Sept.

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in September, led by solid demand for food delivery services and electronics goods amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, data showed Wednesday.

The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.2 trillion won (US$13.7 billion) in September, up 17 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The September reading marked an all-time high since the agency began to compile related data in 2001.

The value of online shopping reached more than 15 trillion won for the seventh straight month.

In the third quarter, online shopping also hit an all-time high to reach 48.2 trillion won, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier.

Amid an economic recovery and tougher virus restrictions, people boosted online purchases of food delivery services, electronic goods, travel services and foodstuffs in September, the agency said.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 23.9 percent on-year to 11.7 trillion won. Mobile shopping accounted for 72.4 percent of the total value of online shopping.

Online transactions of food delivery services rose 36.8 percent on-year to 2.2 trillion won, and those of food and beverages gained 9.8 percent to 2.23 trillion won.

Purchases of electronic goods increased 25.8 percent on-year to 1.78 trillion won due to demand for home appliances and smartphones.

Online shopping of travel-related services jumped 40 percent to 776 billion won.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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