Led by strong online performance, S. Korea’s retail sales up 6.3 per cent in May

Sales of key retailers in South Korea grew 6.3 per cent last month from a year earlier, led by the strong performance in the online sector, government data showed Thursday.

The combined revenue of 26 online and offline retailers reached 10.29 trillion won (US$9 billion) in May, compared with 9.68 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Of the total, 13 offline-based retailers, including department stores, discount chains and convenience stores, rose 2.5 per cent on-year.

The comparable figure for 13 online shopping malls — e-commerce sites and online product sales channels run by big retailers — jumped 15.2 per cent from a year ago, driving up the overall growth.