This photo provided by Tesla Inc, shows the carmaker’s service center in western Seoul.
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea surged to its highest level for any August on record, fueled by booming Tesla sales and growing appetite for food services, government data showed Wednesday.
Total online transactions reached 22.48 trillion won (US$15.56 billion) in August, up 6.6 percent, or 1.39 trillion won, from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
It was the largest August figure since the government began compiling the data in 2017. The agency, formerly known as Statistics Korea, was reorganized this year under a broader government restructuring.
The sharpest gains came from automobiles and auto parts, which leapt 55.1 percent year-on-year, driven by Tesla’s online-only sales system and stronger deliveries of its vehicles.
Tesla sold 7,974 units in August, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, maintaining its lead as South Korea’s top imported car brand for a second consecutive month after selling 7,357 units in July.
Food-related categories also provided momentum. Sales of food services climbed 9 percent, while food and beverage sales rose 5.8 percent, reflecting the continued popularity of online grocery shopping and stiff competition among delivery platforms. E-coupon transactions increased 8.6 percent, the first annual rise in 13 months.
Food services represented the largest share of total online sales at 16.6 percent, followed by food and beverages at 14.3 percent and travel and transportation services at 13.1 percent.
Mobile shopping remained dominant, with purchases via smartphones, tablets and other devices jumping 8.9 percent to 17.85 trillion won. Mobile transactions accounted for 79.4 percent of all online sales in August, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
