The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) announced on March 23 that domestic mobile shopping sales increased 122 percent from 5.9 trillion won (US$5.3 billion) to 13.1 trillion won (US$11.8 billion) between 2013 and 2014. The amount was 1.8 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) in 2012 and 600 billion won (US$542 million) in 2011, when the government began to collect data.
The KCCI added that mobile shopping is taking the place of PC-based online shopping. Last year, sales of the latter decreased by 1.8 trillion won (US$1.6 billion), whereas those of the former increased by 7.2 trillion won (US$6.5 billion).
Meanwhile, the sales of offline retail channels dropped across the board, with the only exception being convenience stores. Major supermarkets and department stores recorded a decline of 3.4 percent and 1.6 percent each, while smaller supermarkets’ sales edged up by 0.8 percent. Convenience stores recorded a turnover growth rate of 8.7 percent from a year ago, with the number of single-person households on the rise.
Experts say that it will not be easy for offline sales to see an upward rebound owing to the changing population structure and smartphones. The increase of one or two-member households is driving consumers to visit convenience stores instead of large-scale supermarkets or traditional markets. The appearance of smartphones is changing the buying behavior mobile shopping.