SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's online shopping grew in single digits last year owing to strong demand for food, car accessories, and the travel and transport service, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
Shopping in cyberspace mounted 5.8 percent to 242.09 trillion won (165.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the highest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2001.
Transactions of food and beverage in cyberspace advanced 14.8 percent, while demand for agricultural, livestock and fishery products jumped 17.8 percent last year.
Online purchases of car accessories increased 15.0 percent, while demand for the travel and transport and the culture and leisure services expanded 9.3 percent and 5.8 percent each.
Online transactions of e-coupon services tumbled 15.4 percent amid the weaker trend to provide gifts such as coffee and cake through e-coupons.
The weaker trend was attributed to overdue payments by two e-commerce platforms that filed for court receivership in July last year after failing to make payments to vendors and to offer refunds to customers.
Online demand for computers, mobile devices, footwear, sports and leisure items declined in single digits last year.
Shopping through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets swelled 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 182.37 trillion won (125 billion dollars) in 2024, accounting for 75.3 percent of the combined online shopping.
