Jakarta: Online shopping sales in the Republic of Korea edged up 0.9 percent from a year earlier in May, mainly driven by rising demand for food products and relevant services, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 22.49 trillion won (US$16.66 billion) in May, up 197 billion won from a year earlier.
According to Lao News Agency, the growth was led by a sharp increase in demand for food services, which jumped 14.2 percent on-year to 4.41 trillion won. Online sales of food and beverages also advanced 5.6 percent on-year to 3.86 trillion won. However, transactions for e-coupon services plummeted 47.1 percent on-year to 514.3 billion won.
Purchases made through smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices increased 2.9 percent on-year to 17.36 trillion won. Mobile gadget-based shopping accounted for 77.2 percent of the total online sales in May, up 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed.