Retail sales up over 9 pct in March on strong performance of e-commerce: data

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean retailers saw their sales gain more than 9 percent from a year earlier in March on robust online demand for food and daily necessities, data showed Tuesday.

Last month, the combined revenue of major retail companies rose 9.2 percent from a year ago, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ministry said the increase is mainly attributable to strong demand for e-commerce deliveries in food and daily shopping sectors and other services.

Sales from the online sector increased 19 percent on-year as revenue from the food sector rose 19.4 percent and revenue from the daily necessities sector expanded 7.5 percent.

Sales from online services, such as food delivery and e-coupons, spiked 78.3 percent.

On the other hand, offline platforms saw their revenue decrease 0.2 percent on-year in March, affected by weak consumer sentiment.

In particular, supermarket sales went down 0.2 percent, and sales from department stores dropped 2.1 percent.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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