SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Online shopping in South Korea hit a new monthly high in September as purchase in the cyberspace increased ahead of the traditional Chuseok holiday, a government report showed Thursday.
Transaction in the cyberspace amounted to the largest-ever 6.84 trillion won (6.14 billion U.S. dollars) in September, according to Statistics Korea.
It was up 27.6 percent from a year earlier as consumers purchased gifts online ahead of the 10-day Chuseok holiday, the South Korean version of Thanksgiving Day.
Food and beverage purchase in the cyberspace jumped 54.1 percent in September from a year ago on demand for preparations for the holiday food.
Online reservation for overseas trip expanded 17.5 percent as many South Koreans went on a trip aboard during the unusually-long holiday period.
Meanwhile, direct sale by local companies to Chinese consumers in the cyberspace jumped 32.6 percent over the year to 591 billion won in the July-September quarter.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea tumbled to 662,000 in the third quarter from 2,182,000 in the same quarter of last year.
