Mobile shoppers top 10M, with young at cutting edge

As the number of users of smartphones and tablet PCs keeps growing, mobile shopping is proving ever-more popular this year, with the number of mobile shoppers now exceeding 10 million, the online retail industry reported yesterday.

According to the “2012 Online Shopping Issue” released by the Internet shopping mall Interpark, the average number of mobile shopping app users tallied 13.3 million as of September, double the number in April.

On the other hand, the average number of shoppers using their personal computers to shop at online shopping malls stood at a mere 2,914 as of September, down 4.3 percent in five months.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said the popularity of mobile shopping is on the rise especially among young customers due to fewer constraints of time and place. Most major domestic retailers such as large discount store chains, department stores, open markets and social commerce sites have now launched mobile shopping apps.

Interpark, one of the major Internet shopping malls, introduced its mobile shopping app in March and has seen the fastest rate of sales growth, with revenue doubling each month. Sales had reportedly surged 10-fold from April to October. Large retailers are ramping up their marketing strategies on social network services, especially after the government began ordering them to close their offline stores on two Sundays a month earlier this year. “With the proliferation of smartphones and tablet PCs, Internet consumers are moving fast from PC-based to mobile Internet,” said Kim Kyung-jong at the KCCI.

By Kim Jung-yoon [kjy@joongang.co.kr]