March Online Shopping Surpasses 25 Trillion Won... Travel and Car Purchases Rise Despite High Oil Prices

Up 13.3% Year-on-Year, Double-Digit Growth Returns After Six Months
Clear Recovery After the "Timapeu Incident" Slump

In March of this year, online shopping transaction volume surpassed 25 trillion won for the first time ever. Despite high oil prices triggered by the Middle East war, demand for travel continued, and consumption of high-priced durable goods such as automobiles and telecommunications devices expanded simultaneously, lifting the overall market.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on May 4, the online shopping transaction volume in March amounted to 25.577 trillion won, up 13.3% from a year earlier. This is the first time since statistics have been compiled that the monthly transaction volume has exceeded 25 trillion won. The growth rate also returned to double digits for the first time in six months since September last year (12.9%).

The increase in transaction volume was driven by travel and high-priced consumption. In March, the transaction volume for travel and transportation services was 3.3127 trillion won, a 21.7% increase over the same period last year. Although fuel surcharges rose and airfares increased due to instability in the Middle East, strong demand during the peak spring overseas travel season overcame the negative impact of high oil prices.

Consumption of high-priced durable goods also showed a marked increase. In March, transaction volume for automobiles and automobile accessories soared by 109.9% year-on-year to 1.102 trillion won. The direct cause is identified as the increased delivery volume, mainly for imported electric vehicles such as BYD. Telecommunications devices also recorded a transaction volume of 945.5 billion won, up 107.5% from the same month last year, thanks to the launch of new smartphone models.

This trend continued on a quarterly basis as well. In the first quarter of this year, online shopping transaction volume reached a record high of 72.1643 trillion won, up 9.2% from a year earlier. Travel and transportation services (13.0%), automobiles and automobile accessories (78.9%), and food services (9.3%) led the overall increase.

Initially, online shopping transaction volume recorded a low growth rate of less than 5% in the first half of last year due to the impact of the "Timapeu incident" in July 2024. However, a moderate growth trend has continued since the second half of last year. Notably, growth has not slowed but rather accelerated despite negative events such as the Coupang personal information leak in November last year. The growth rate of online shopping transaction volume in March of this year was 13.3%, more than double the 5.9% recorded in February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.