S.Korea's online shopping keeps double-digit growth

Online shopping in South Korea maintained a double-digit monthly growth as consumers increasingly prefer purchases online rather offline amid widespread penetration of smartphones, a government report showed Monday.

Combined retail sales, including those online and offline, reached 29.18 trillion won (25.46 billion U.S. dollars) in February, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

Online shopping jumped 22.7 percent from a year earlier to 4.69 trillion won in February, while mobile shopping through smartphones surged 54.0 percent to 2.39 trillion won.

The figures showed consumers preferring purchases in cyberspace to visiting offline stores in one of the world's most Internet-connected country.

In 2015 when the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak weighed down on South Korea's private consumption, online shopping posted a double-digit monthly growth. Mobile shopping through smartphones surged more than 40 percent every month last year.

In February, online sales of bags, cosmetics, furniture and leisure items recorded a double-digit increase compared with a year earlier.

Main items purchased through mobile phones in February were baby products, shoes, clothing and cosmetics, which accounted for about two thirds of total mobile shopping in February.