Online shopping sales up 4.1% in Sept. on automobiles, food delivery services

Online shopping sales in Korea rose 4.1 percent in September from a year earlier on stronger demand for automobiles and related products, government data showed Monday.

The value of online shopping transactions came to 24.97 trillion won ($18.7 billion) in September, up 975.8 billion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The latest findings showed spending on automobiles and related products jumped 30.9 percent on-year to 1.27 trillion won.

Money spent on food delivery services also moved up 4 percent to 3.78 trillion won, while spending on cosmetic products increased a sharp 12.2 percent to 1.29 trillion won.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier to 19.08 trillion won in September. They accounted for 76.4 percent of total sales, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier.