Online shopping sales in South Korea rose 7.7 percent on-year in May to reach an all-time high for any May on the back of various shopping events and celebrations for family days, the statistics agency said Monday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 20.87 trillion won (US$15.14 billion) in May, up 1.49 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the largest amount ever for any May. The growth was led by rising demand for food and beverages, which jumped 16.6 percent on-year to 2.89 trillion won, as people here celebrated holidays and special days for family members, such as Children's Day that falls on May 5 and Parents' Day on May 8. Retailers also held various promotional campaigns backed by the government as it was working to help smaller merchants and customers to boost domestic demand. Sales for travel and transportation services also added 11.7 percent to 2.37 trillion won in May. But online shopping for fashion items marked an on-year decline amid falling users of major online shopping platforms, including China's AliExpress and Temu, amid controversy over the safety of their products, agency officials said. Sales of bags tumbled 10.2 percent on-year, and those for clothing and shoes shed 4.7 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices increased 7.8 percent on-year to an all-time high of 15.51 trillion won. Mobile gadget-based shopping accounted for 74.4 percent of the total online sales in May, the data showed. Source: Yonhap News Agency