S. Korea’s Retail Sales Gain 6.3% in July on Growing Demand for Online Platforms

Retail sales in South Korea rose 6.3% on-year in July on the back of strong performances of online platforms, though offline stores logged a sales decline amid unfavorable weather conditions, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Tuesday. The combined sales of 23 major offline and online retailers came to 14.8 trillion won ($11.13 billion) last month, compared with 13.9 trillion won a year earlier, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the data compiled by the Ministry. Sales on online platforms advanced 16.9% to 7.57 trillion won as online shopping for daily necessities and services has become commonplace. However, offline retailers suffered a decline in sales due to unfavorable weather conditions and the fewer number of weekends in July this year compared with a year ago, according to the Ministry. Sales of offline retailers fell 3% to 7.18 trillion won. But convenience stores reported 2.9% sales growth, and those of smaller supermarkets inched up 1.4%. Source: Qatar News Agency