South Korea's online shopping hits record high in 2019


FE Team | Published: February 05, 2020 15:39:01 | Updated: February 29, 2020 12:01:18


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South Korea's online shopping hit a new record high last year as demand soared for food delivery through smartphone applications, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

Shopping in the cyberspace amounted to 134.6 trillion won (113.4 billion US dollars) in 2019, up 18.3 per cent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It was the biggest since the statistical office began compiling the data in 2001, reports Xinhua.

Demand surged for online food delivery services, which jumped 84.6 per cent last year.

The purchase of food and beverage in the cyberspace advanced 26.1 per cent in the year, with those for cosmetics and electronic products growing in double figures.

The mobile shopping, or the purchase through mobile phones, picked up 25.5 per cent over the year to 86.7 trillion won (73 billion US dollars) in 2019.

It accounted for 64.4 per cent of the total online shopping. The mobile shopping of the food delivery services soared 90.5 per cent in the year.

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