온라인쇼핑 거래액 9조 육박 '역대최고'
Online shopping transactions in Korea reached a new milestone.
The value of purchases made on the internet surpassed 8-point-9 trillion won or nearly 8-point-3 billion dollars in March,… breaking the record that was set only a couple of months prior.
Ko Roon-hee zooms in on this welcome development. It's a new record in the internet shopping industry.
The total value of purchases made online hit an all-time high in March.
According to Statistics Korea, March saw transactions worth almost 9 trillion won, or nearly 8-point-3 billion U.S. dollars.
The previous record was set just two months earlier.
The data show the main source of the increase was food service transactions. More people in Korea have been using mobile apps for food delivery or to get coupons and discounts.
Food service transactions came to a total of 345 million U.S. dollars in March, a surge of nearly 75 percent compared to the same month last year.
People have also been spending more on home appliances like air filters and other devices because of the fine dust air pollution.
Clothes dryers have been another popular item.
Transactions for appliances and electronics came to 868 million U.S. dollars, an on-year rise of almost 42 percent.
Purchases of Korean products also rose overseas by 8 percent, but transactions coming from China decreased.
The report said a drop of 3-point-5 percent is believed to be the left over impact from China's economic retaliatory measures against South Korea's deployment of the THAAD missle defense system last year.
However, with the dispute now considered settled, conditions are expected to improve.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
