April 20, 2024

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The total value of online shopping in South Korea rose 16.4 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed on April 3, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things ranging from clothes to consumer electronics.

Total online transactions reached 9.59 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in the one-month period, compared with 8.24 trillion won a year earlier, according to the preliminary data compiled by Statistics Korea.

In February, sales of electronic goods and computers jumped 31 percent on-year to 1.61 trillion won, demand for clothes increased 10.3 percent to 961.2 billion won, and online sales of food and beverages rose 3.9 percent to 850.6 billion won.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets soared 26 percent on-year to 6.18 trillion won, accounting for 64.4 percent of all online sales in the second month of 2019.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)