Online shopping in South Korea continued to soar in March as more people bought goods via e-commerce platforms amid a non-contact consumption trend caused by the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The value of online shopping transactions stood at 15.9 trillion won ($14.1 billion) in March, up 26.4 percent from 12.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The March tally marks the second-highest monthly reading since December last year when the comparable figure was 15.99 trillion won.

The use of online shopping has accelerated since last year as people preferred shopping in a non-contact manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 29.4 percent on-year to 11 trillion won in March. Mobile shopping made up 69.1 percent of the total value of online shopping.

Online purchases of foodstuffs, food delivery services and electronics goods remained firm, the statistics agency said.

Online transactions of food delivery services jumped 62.4 percent on-year to 781 billion won, and those of food and beverages rose 21.1 percent to 347 billion won.

Online shopping of travel-related services also rebounded after months of declines. It soared 92.9 percent on-year to 304.5 billion won in March as demand for domestic travel increased amid relaxed virus curbs. (Yonhap)