SEOUL, May 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's online shopping logged a double-digit growth in the first quarter of this year due to solid demand for food delivery services, statistical office data showed Monday.
Shopping in the cyberspace came in at 49.13 trillion won (38.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March quarter, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
Robust demand continued for food delivery services, caused by the COVID-19 resurgence in the country.
Online food delivery services reached a new high of 7.01 trillion won in the first quarter, up 20.5 percent from a year earlier.
The online purchase of food and beverage jumped 17.4 percent to hit a record high of 6.93 trillion won in the cited quarter.
Online orders for travel and transport services surged 57.6 percent to 2.7 trillion won.
Mobile shopping using smartphones gained 18 percent from a year earlier to 37 trillion won in the first quarter. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1,267.19 won) ■