SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Online delivery orders of food and materials in South Korea posted a double-digit growth as the scorching heatwave discouraged people from going outside for shopping, a government report showed on Wednesday.
Illustration: VCG
Shopping in the cyberspace through smartphone applications amounted to 9.46 trillion won ($8.47 billion) in July, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
The sweltering heatwave and the tropical night led people to buy home appliances, especially air conditioner, online and order delivery food through smartphone applications.
The number of heatwaves increased to 15.5 days this July from 6.4 days last July, while the tropical nights rose from 6.4 days to 7.8 days in the same period.
The usage of online food delivery services surged 91.2 percent over the year to 466.7 billion won ($417.7 million) in July, marking the biggest since the relevant data began to be compiled in January last year.
Electronic products delivery jumped 22.5 percent in July from a year ago, with the order for summer clothing rising 17.9 percent in the month.
