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E-commerce sales soar 9.1 percent as more people travel

Published: 04 Sep. 2023, 18:35

JIN MIN-JI
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Online shipping in Korea increases by 9.1 percent in July from a year earlier, data showed Monday. [YONHAP]

Online shopping in Korea increased 9.1 percent in July from a year earlier, data showed Monday, as the demand for travel services continues to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 18.9 trillion won ($14.31 billion) in July, compared to 17.3 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The growth was mostly led by travel and transportation services, which shot up 31.4 percent on-year to hit 2.1 trillion won, as more people traveled amid lifted virus-related restrictions.

Online sales of food and beverages advanced 15.7 percent to hit 2.49 trillion won as well, and those of e-coupons, or online gift cards, increased 28.1 percent to 735.1 billion won.

Sales of food delivery services reached 2.35 trillion won, up 2.4 percent on-year, the data showed. That of clothing reached 1.5 trillion won, up 4.5 percent over the period.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 6.9 percent on-year to 14 trillion won. They accounted for 74.5 percent of the total online shopping sales, down 1.5 percentage points on-year.