Last year, the online shopping transaction amount surpassed 242 trillion won, setting a record for the largest scale in history. The proportion of online shopping transactions in retail sales also approached 27% annually, marking the highest ever. However, due to the aftermath of the 'T-map (Tmon, WeMakePrice) incident' that arose last year, the transaction amount of e-coupon services decreased for the first time since records began.
According to the 'December and Annual Online Shopping Trends' announced by the Statistics Korea on the 4th, last year, the online shopping transaction amount reached 242.897 trillion won, representing a 5.8% increase compared to the previous year. Among this, the mobile shopping transaction amount increased more steeply by 7.9%, reaching 182.3654 trillion won.
The online shopping transaction amount has been setting records every year. The proportion of online shopping transaction amounts in retail sales accounted for 26.9%, which is also the highest proportion since related statistics began in 2001.
Last year, the transaction amounts increased in most product categories, including food (15.6%), household goods (9.1%), services (6.6%), books (5.0%), and fashion (0.4%), but the e-coupon services experienced a sharp decline. The transaction amount for e-coupon services was 8.5136 trillion won, down 15.4% from the previous year. This marks the first instance of recording a 'minus' since relevant statistics began. This is attributed to the aftermath of the T-map incident in mid-last year. The 'home appliances' category, which has a durability limit, also saw a decrease of 0.6% from the previous year.
When examining online shopping transactions in terms of direct overseas sales and purchase trends, the sales amount was 1.7225 trillion won, while the purchase amount was 7.9583 trillion won, reflecting an increase of 1.5% and 19.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Notably, in the case of overseas direct purchases, purchases from China increased by 48% compared to the previous year, representing the highest growth rate among all countries. The onslaught of 'C-commerce' companies like Ali and Temu continued strong in 2022 (47.1%), 2023 (53.1%), and last year.
However, since the second half of last year, controversies surrounding the 'toxicity' of Chinese direct purchases have arisen, causing the fervor to subside. The quarterly year-over-year growth rates for Chinese direct purchase transaction amounts were ▲67.5% in the 4th quarter of 2023 (quarterly growth rate) ▲65.4% in the 1st quarter of 2024, and ▲64.8% in the 2nd quarter, then recorded ▲45% and ▲28.5% in the 3rd and 4th quarters, respectively.