April 26, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] Purchases made using the internet and mobile devices in Korea continued to show solid growth in February, government data showed on April 4.

The total value of transactions made with computers, smartphones and tablets reached 7.91 trillion won (US$7.49 billion) in February, up 11.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The sharp rise was attributed to increased demand for daily necessities and foods on occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday that fell in mid-February and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics that ran from Feb. 9 to 25, the agency said.

The total value of mobile transactions soared 22.8 percent to 4.78 trillion won thanks to rising sales of pet supplies, furniture and foods.

Mobile transactions accounted for 60.4 percent of all online purchases in February.

Mobile purchases in Korea have been on a steep rise for years as smart devices expand their presence in the world’s most wired country and rapidly replace computers as the means of conducting online transactions.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)