(LEAD) Online shopping continues to grow in April amid non-contact trend

All News 14:44 June 02, 2022

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 6-7)

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- Online shopping in South Korea continued to grow in April as eased virus curbs and the economic recovery boosted demand for travel services and foodstuffs, data showed Thursday.

The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.5 trillion won (US$13.2 billion) in April, up 11.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 15.7 percent on-year to 12.3 trillion won. Mobile shopping accounted for 74.6 percent of the total value of online shopping.

Online shopping has increased as the COVID-19 pandemic prodded people to shun offline stores.

Online purchases of travel and transportation services grew by the largest amount in April as the lifting of virus curbs boosted demand for travel. They jumped 627.5 billion won, or 89.8 percent, on-year to 1.33 trillion won.

The April reading marked the largest amount since 1.53 trillion won in January 2020, according to the statistics agency.

It also almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The value of online shopping of travel and transportation services came to 1.4 trillion won in April 2019, nine months before South Korea reported its first COVID-19 case.

On April 18, South Korea lifted most coronavirus restrictions, except the mask mandate, in a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life.

In April, online transactions of food and beverage rose 321.2 billion won, or 16.6 percent, to 2.25 trillion won.

Those of food delivery services grew by the smallest amount in April as increased outdoor activity slowed demand for food delivery. They went up 113.3 billion won, or 5.7 percent, on-year to 2.09 trillion won.