Online shopping in South Korea hits record high in Aug. amid Tesla sales surge

The value of online shopping transactions stood at 22.48 trillion won (US$15.56 billion) in August, up 1.39 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

It marks the highest figure for any August since 2017, when the ministry began compiling the data. Formerly known as Statistics Korea, the agency was reorganized into the ministry under the recent government restructuring.

The growth was led by the increase in automobiles and auto parts, which jumped 55.1 percent from a year earlier, amid strong sales and higher deliveries of Tesla's models, which are sold through an online order system.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), Tesla sold 7,974 units in August, including the Model Y, maintaining its position as the top imported car brand for the second straight month after selling 7,357 units in July.

Sales of food services and food and beverages went up 9 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, in August amid the growing popularity of online grocery shopping and intensified competition among delivery platforms.

E-coupon services also grew 8.6 percent on-year, marking the first increase in 13 months.

In terms of the share of total online shopping transactions, food services accounted for the largest portion at 16.6 percent, followed by food and beverages at 14.3 percent and travel and transportation services at 13.1 percent.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices increased 8.9 percent to 17.85 trillion won.

Mobile gadget-based shopping accounted for 79.4 percent of the total online sales in August, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed.

Earlier, it was reported that South Korea's relative poverty rate among seniors topped the OECD nations.