This file photo shows the duty-free zone of Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, crowded with travelers on March 2, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea rose 7.5 percent on-year in February on the back of the surge in demand for travel services on growing outdoor activities following eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Monday.
The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 16.94 trillion won (US$12.85 billion) last month, compared with 15.75 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
The growth was led by online sales of travel and transportation services, which spiked 137.4 percent on-year to 1.83 trillion last month.
Sales of food and beverages also rose 8.3 percent on-year to 2.13 trillion won in February, and those of e-coupons, which refer to online gift cards with barcodes, climbed 29.7 percent to 703.9 billion won, the data showed.
But the demand for food delivery services fell 11.5 percent to 2.19 trillion won, as more people dined out amid eased concerns over COVID-19.
Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 4.6 percent on-year to 12.59 trillion won. They accounted for 74.3 percent of the total online shopping, down 2.1 percentage points on-year, data showed.
(Yonhap)
