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Online shopping in S.Korea hits record high on scorching heat

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Online shopping in South Korea hit a new record high in July as consumers refrained from going out for shopping amid the scorching heat, a government report showed on Thursday.

Shopping in cyberspace jumped 17.4 percent from a year earlier to 5.57 trillion won (4.97 billion U.S. dollars) in July, according to Statistics Korea. It was the largest since the agency began compiling the data in January 2001.

Mobile shopping, a purchase of goods and services through smartphones, surged 36.9 percent to reach a fresh monthly high of 2.93 trillion won.

Unusually high temperature led consumers to refrain from going outside and buying necessities via smartphones. During the summer vacation, consumers tend to make trip reservations via mobile phones, the agency said.

Purchase of cosmetics and food on the Internet jumped 46.3 percent and 31.4 percent each in July from a year earlier, with those for consumer electronics and communication devices growing 22.4 percent.

Trip reservations in cyberspace accounted for 20.4 percent of the total online shopping in July, followed by purchase of home appliances with a portion of 12.8 percent. Endit