FOOD APPS EARN 1 TRILLION WON IN A MONTH

[Anchor Lead]

It has become common to use a mobile app to have food delivered to your door. Such food services have earned more than one trillion won in a month for the first time in history and are poised to power the entire online shopping market.

[Pkg]

It's become almost second nature for the younger generation to open a smartphone delivery app when they're hungry.

[Soundbite] ROH HYEON-JI(DELIVERY APP USER) : "I use the app often because I can check for special discounts and there are daily special events."

Restaurants cannot ignore such consumer demands, so they sign up, hoping to increase sales.

[Soundbite] PARK CHAN-HWAN(CAFE OWNER) : "I think it's a dominant trend. I think the market will grow and it will help boost my revenue."

Online food service transactions amounted to over 1.02 trillion won in last November, doubling the amount from one year ago and surpassing the one-trillion-won mark for the first time. Statistics Korea explains such growth was driven by various incentives like discounts and increasing consumer preference for ready-to-eat meals and delivered foods. Even the cosmetics as well as food and beverage sectors saw their online transactions spike by about 30%. Overall consumer spending on online shopping services rose 20% to 12.75 trillion won, reaching a record high monthly transaction amount. Online shopping now accounts for up to 23.1% of total retail sales.

[Soundbite] YANG DONG-HEE(STATISTICS KOREA) : "Online shopping saw more than a 17% on-year increase every month. In November, record highs were set in total transaction amount, mobile transaction amount, and percentage against entire retail sales."

The fact that mobile shopping accounts for 66% of all online shopping proves mobile phone transactions can be an overwhelming trend that will transform the entire retail industry.