People Flock to Online Shopping Amid High Inflation... Transaction Volume Up 10.5%

Statistics Korea April Online Shopping Trends

Despite the economic downturn and reduced consumer spending, online transaction amounts in April continued an upward trend. It is analyzed that demand for purchasing the lowest-priced products amid prolonged high inflation concentrated online.

According to the 'Online Shopping Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 3rd, the total transaction amount of online shopping malls in April reached 19.8027 trillion KRW, a 10.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

By product category, online shopping transaction amounts increased in food and beverages (18.0%), travel and transportation services (14.7%), and agricultural, livestock, and fishery products (26.2%), but decreased in bags (-10.3%) and others.

Among all product categories, the largest share of transaction amount was food and beverages (14.0%), followed by food services (11.2%) and travel and transportation services (10.6%). It is analyzed that as food prices soared, demand for purchasing groceries and agricultural, livestock, and fishery products economically online increased.

Among online shopping, mobile shopping transaction amount was 14.8026 trillion KRW, an 11.9% increase compared to the same month last year. The share of mobile shopping transaction amount in total online shopping transaction amount was 74.8%, up 1.0 percentage point from the same month last year.

By product category, mobile shopping transaction amounts increased in food and beverages (23.0%) and travel and transportation services (14.1%) compared to the same month last year, but decreased in bags (-9.2%) and others.