Seoul: Online shopping sales in South Korea increased 6.6 percent from a year earlier to a record high for any August, driven by strong sales of Tesla vehicles and rising demand for food services, data showed Wednesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the value of online shopping transactions stood at 22.48 trillion won (US$15.56 billion) in August, up 1.39 trillion won from a year earlier. This marks the highest figure for any August since 2017, when the Ministry of Data and Statistics began compiling the data. The agency, formerly known as Statistics Korea, was reorganized into the ministry under the recent government restructuring.
The growth was significantly influenced by the automobile sector, with vehicles and auto parts seeing a substantial increase of 55.1 percent from the previous year. This was largely due to the strong sales and higher deliveries of Tesla's models, which are primarily sold through an online order system.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA), Tesla sold 7,974 units in August, including the Model Y. This achievement allowed Tesla to maintain its position as the top imported car brand for the second consecutive month, following sales of 7,357 units in July.
Additionally, sales in the food services and food and beverages sectors experienced growth of 9 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, amidst the rising popularity of online grocery shopping and intensified competition among delivery platforms. E-coupon services also saw an 8.6 percent year-on-year growth, marking the first increase in 13 months.
In terms of the share of total online shopping transactions, food services accounted for the largest portion at 16.6 percent, followed by food and beverages at 14.3 percent, and travel and transportation services at 13.1 percent. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices increased by 8.9 percent to 17.85 trillion won. Mobile gadget-based shopping accounted for 79.4 percent of the total online sales in August, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed.