S. Korea’s online shopping grows in September

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s online shopping grew in single digit in September due to strong demand for food delivery, mobile devices and cultural service, statistical office data showed Friday.
Shopping in cyberspace gained 2.0 percent over the year to 19.56 trillion won (14.2 billion U.S. dollars) in September, after rising 1.9 percent in the previous month, according to Statistics Korea.
Online shopping kept an upward trend, but the September figure posted the second-lowest increase since data began to be compiled in 2017.
The low growth was attributed to overdue payments by two e-commerce platforms that filed for court receivership in July after failing to make payments to vendors and to offer refunds to customers.
Online purchases of mobile devices spiked 94.9 percent, while demand for food delivery and cultural service expanded 17.3 percent and 48.2 percent each.
Transaction of food and beverages in cyberspace advanced 10.5 percent, while demand for agricultural, livestock and fishery products gained 3.4 percent in September from a year earlier.
Online transactions of e-coupon services tumbled 48.8 percent amid the weaker trend to provide gifts such as coffee and cake through e-coupons, while those for car accessories, computers and backpacks declined in double digits.
Shopping through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets climbed 7.7 percent over the year to 14.92 trillion won (10.8 billion dollars) in September, accounting for 76.3 percent of the combined online shopping. ■