SEOUL, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Mobile shopping through smartphones in South Korea hit a record monthly high in May due to demand for gifts to parents and children, a government report showed Wednesday.
Shopping in the cyberspace reached 6.3 trillion won (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) in May, up 19.7 percent from the same month of last year, according to Statistics Korea.
Among the figure, mobile shopping through smartphones reached a new high of 3.82 trillion won in May, up 37.9 percent from a year earlier. It topped the previous record high of 3.74 trillion won tallied in March.
Demand was strong for gifts to parents and children as the month celebrated the Children's Day and the Parents' Day.
Settlement with smartphones in the cyberspace continued to grow amid the higher penetration rate of smartphones and the convenient settlement with the mobile devices.
Online sales of home appliances and electronic products surged 45.6 percent in May from a year ago, with those for food and beverage jumping 38.8 percent. The figure for household items and car appliances rose 19.9 percent.
Mobile purchase of bag and furniture surged 92.9 percent and 72.3 percent respectively, with the figure for home appliances and electronic devices soaring 68.8 percent.
