SEOUL, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's online shopping logged a double-digit increase in March due to pent-up demand, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, statistical office data showed Thursday.
Shopping in the cyberspace amounted to 15.89 trillion won (14.1 billion U.S. dollars) in March, up 26.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the fastest expansion in about two and half years since October 2018 amid the emerging pent-up demand from the prolonged pandemic.
Demand in the cyberspace for food services, including delivery food services, surged 62.4 percent as people still refrained from outside activity.
Online shopping for home appliances, electronic and communications devices advanced 22.0 percent, and demand for travel and transport services almost doubled on the back of the eased quarantine measures.
Mobile shopping using smartphones stood at 10.98 trillion won (9.8 billion U.S. dollars) in March, up 29.4 percent from a year ago. It took up 69.1 percent of the total online shopping. Enditem