The total value of online shopping in South Korea reached a record high in October, a government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of South Koreans are using computers or mobile devices to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods.
Total online transactions reached 10.04 trillion won ($9.03 billion) in October, up 36 percent, or 2.65 trillion won, from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
(Yonhap)
The reading marked the highest amount since January 2001 when the statistics office started collecting data on online shopping.
Demand for clothes jumped 38.5 percent on-year to 1.33 trillion won in October and online sales of food delivery services surged 49.8 percent to 895.7 billion won, while sales of electronic goods rose 38.2 percent to 996.5 billion won.
Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets soared 43.8 percent on-year to a record 6.24 trillion won, accounting for 62.1 percent of all online sales in October.
South Korea is one of the most-wired countries in the world with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates.
The number of smartphones in South Korea came to 50.5 million as of October, compared with 48.3 million a year earlier, according to separate government data.
South Korea has a population of 51 million, but some people have more than one phone. (Yonhap)
