South Korea’s department store industry is still struggling to arrest falling sales as consumers tighten spending and turn to online.

New figures released by the trade ministry Tuesday show sales at top department and discount stores in December fell at a sharper rate than initially expected – by 0.9 per cent compared with the earlier projected 0.3 per cent.

That makes the fourth successive month that combined sales from stores managed by Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae Co have declined.

However, the new data still reflects a significant improvement from the 6.5 per cent drop in November.

The ministry blamed the slump on falling in-store clothing purchases due to consumers preferring to shop online. Rising sales of food and beverages cushioned the effect of apparel’s fall.

Discount store sales fell 3.8 per cent in December year-on-year, compared to 4.7 per cent in November.