Online Shopping Transaction Volume Surpasses 20 Trillion Won Monthly for the First Time... Travel and Public Transportation Up 28.6%

The transaction amount of online shopping surpassed 20 trillion won on a monthly basis for the first time ever.

According to the 'Online Shopping Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 4th, the online shopping transaction amount in October reached 20.0905 trillion won, an increase of 11.8% (2.1196 trillion won) compared to the same month last year. This is the highest ever since the related statistics began in 2017. Previously, the highest monthly online shopping transaction amount was 19.2481 trillion won in May.

The reason for the record high online shopping transaction amount is attributed to significant increases in travel and transportation services (28.6%), food and groceries (15.6%), and e-coupon services (48.9%). Jeong Eun-jeong, head of the Service Industry Trends Division at Statistics Korea, said, "The online shopping transaction amount is showing a continuous upward trend, especially with a large increase in usage of travel and transportation services."

By product category, online shopping transaction amounts decreased in computers and peripherals (-4.9%) compared to the same month last year, but increased in travel and transportation services (28.6%), food and groceries (15.6%), and e-coupon services (48.9%). This is interpreted as the effect of a sharp increase in domestic and international travelers during the extended holidays from Chuseok to National Foundation Day following the endemic phase of COVID-19.

During this period, the transaction amount for services within online shopping totaled 5.6593 trillion won, an 18.5% increase compared to the same month last year. Food services accounted for the largest amount at 2.2037 trillion won, followed by travel and transportation services at 2.0997 trillion won.

The transaction amount made via mobile was 14.7158 trillion won, an increase of 10.0% (1.3378 trillion won) compared to the same month last year. Its share of the total online shopping transaction amount was 73.2%, down 1.2 percentage points from 74.4% in the same month last year.

On the 27th, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the duty-free area of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport is bustling with travelers. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.