January Online Shopping Transactions Reach 15 Trillion Won, Second Highest Ever... Mobile Transactions Surpass 70% for the First Time

Mobile Shopping Transactions Remain 2nd Place Following Last December
Transaction Amounts Increase in Food and Beverage Due to COVID-19 Impact

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[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As demand for non-face-to-face transactions increased due to COVID-19, online shopping transaction volume in January recorded the second highest ever, following December of last year. The proportion of mobile transactions in online shopping exceeded 70% for the first time.

January Online Shopping 15 Trillion Won... Second Highest Ever Following December Last Year

'Online Shopping Trends in January 2021' (Source: Statistics Korea)

According to the 'January 2021 and Annual Online Shopping Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 5th, online shopping transaction volume in January was 15.0623 trillion won, an increase of 22.4% compared to the previous year.

This is the second highest monthly record since related statistics began in 2001. It ranks second following 15.8899 trillion won in December last year.

The proportion of online shopping transaction volume among total retail sales was 29.9%, also the second highest since statistics began in 2001. The first place was 30.1% in December last year, showing a similar figure.

By product category, food service transactions such as ordering delivery food online increased the most, rising 90.3% from a year earlier to 2.0242 trillion won.

Transactions for home appliances, electronics, and telecommunications devices (65.3%), furniture (62.2%), and agricultural, livestock, and fishery products (53.4%) also increased significantly.

Conversely, transactions in cultural and leisure services (-79.6%) and travel and transportation services (-68.2%), which were severely impacted by COVID-19, sharply declined.

Lee Min-kyung, head of the Service Industry Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "As social distancing measures against COVID-19 were maintained, food service transactions inevitably increased."

Mobile Transaction Volume and Share Increase... Share Expands Beyond 70% for the First Time

'Online Shopping Trends in January 2021' (Source: Statistics Korea)

Last month, mobile shopping transaction volume was 10.6192 trillion won, up 29.2% from a year earlier. This transaction volume was the second highest since statistics began in January 2013. The highest was 11.0742 trillion won in December last year.

Last year, the annual mobile shopping transaction volume exceeded 100 trillion won for the first time, and this pace was maintained from the first month of this year as well.

The share of mobile shopping in total online shopping was 70.5%, an increase of 3.7 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

This is the first time mobile shopping has exceeded 70% since statistics began.

By product category, the share was highest in food services (96.6%), e-coupon services (87.2%), travel and transportation services (81.4%), and bags (79.0%) in that order.