SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's online shopping kept a double-digit growth in August as people refrained from offline shopping amid the fear of the COVID-19 outbreak, a government report showed Tuesday.
Revenue by online retailers advanced 20.1 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
After jumping 34.3 percent in February, the growth rate of online shopping stayed in a range of 13-16 percent from March to July.
The sale of food in the cyberspace soared 43.0 percent in August from a year ago, with the online sale of furniture and household items advancing 25.4 percent.
Revenue by offline retailers fell 2.4 percent in August on a yearly basis, continuing to skid for seven straight months.
Sale by convenient stores added 2.3 percent last month, but those for department stores and discount chains fell 6.5 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.
The combined revenue of both online and offline retailers grew 6.6 percent in August from a year ago.
Online shopping accounted for 45.2 percent of the total retail sale in August, up from 40.1 percent recorded a year earlier. Enditem
