Korea mobile shopping hits new high

South Koreans are spending more online on mobiles than ever before.

Korea mobile shopping spend reached a new record in 2014, crossing the 10 trillion won mark for the first time.

Thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, annual sales volumes for mobile shopping in Korea first exceeded the 10 trillion won (US$9 billion) mark last year.

According to the “Distribution Industry Whitepaper 2015” released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the total volume of mobile shopping sales was 13.1 trillion won – up a massive 12.5 trillion won from 2011 when the KCCI first started tracking mobile shopping sales figures.

“As search and payment solutions through mobile devices continue to improve, online shopping channels are moving from PCs to mobile,” the KCCI said.

In fact, the sales volume of online shopping through PCs decreased by 1.8 trillion won, but mobile sales increased by 7.2 trillion won.

Meanwhile, offline shopping channels have mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. While traditional powerhouses such as the big box retailers (down 3.4 per cent), department stores (down 1.6 per cent) and supermarkets (up 0.8 per cent) showed negative or stagnant sales growth, convenience stores saw an increase of 8.7 per cent last year.