Seoul: Online shopping sales in South Korea increased 13.3 percent from a year earlier to a record high for any September, driven by strong sales of Tesla vehicles and rising demand for food services, data showed Monday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 23.79 trillion won (US$16.61 billion) in September, up 2.79 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this figure marks the highest for any September since 2017, when the ministry began compiling the data. The growth was led by the increase in automobiles and auto parts, which skyrocketed 136.4 percent from a year earlier. This surge was largely attributed to strong sales and higher deliveries of Tesla's models, which are sold through an online order system.
Sales of food services and food and beverages also experienced notable growth, increasing by 14 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively, in September, the ministry reported. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices rose 11 percent on-year to 18.55 trillion won. Mobile gadget-based shopping accounted for 75.9 percent of total online sales in September, though this was a slight decrease of 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the data revealed.