Online shopping up 11.8 pct in Sept. on travel services

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEJONG, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- Online shopping in South Korea advanced 11.8 percent on-year in September as the demand for travel services increased on eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Tuesday.

The value of online shopping transactions came to 17.45 trillion won (US$12.2 billion) in September, compared with 15.6 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices increased 12.4 percent on-year to 12.85 trillion won.

Mobile shopping accounted for 73.7 percent of total online shopping, up 0.4 percentage point from last year.

Purchases of travel and transportation services online came to 1.69 trillion won in September, more than doubling from 774.9 billion won a year earlier as South Korea and major countries lifted virus-related rules.

Online shopping for food and beverages also advanced 11.2 percent on-year to 2.45 trillion won in September.

In contrast, online transactions of food delivery services fell 10.7 percent on-year to 1.95 trillion won, as more people dined out.

For the third quarter, the online shopping transactions came to 52.2 trillion won, up 12.3 percent on-year, the data added.

colin@yna.co.kr
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