This photo compilation shows e-commerce operator Coupang’s application working on a smartphone screen. (Image : Yonhap)
SEJONG, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s online sales to foreign customers nearly tripled last year from a year earlier on the back of rising demand for domestically produced cosmetics and clothing by Chinese consumers, a report showed Thursday.
South Korean retailers sold an estimated US$130 million worth of goods to overseas customers through their online web sites, up from $44.6 million the previous year, according to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI).
The value of e-commerce exports has been on a sharp rise since 2010, when it posted $2.1 million.
However, the country has been in the red in terms of cross-border e-commerce as the amount of South Korean shoppers purchasing foreign-made goods through overseas web sites stood at $1.5 billion in 2014 and $1 billion in 2013.
The KDI report showed that 42.2 percent of the online sales to overseas customers was done to Chinese consumers, while 21.1 percent was from Singapore-based shoppers and 17.1 percent was from the United States.
“China is a vital component in Korea’s e-commerce exports, and its importance is likely to increase in the coming years,” the KDI report said.’
(Yonhap)
