E-commerce sales rose a quarterly 2.3 percent in the third quarter versus a revised increase of 2.2 percent in the second quarter (initially 2.1 percent). Year-over-year, e-commerce sales were up 7.6 percent. As a percentage of total retail sales, third-quarter e-commerce accounted for 15.6 percent versus 15.5 percent in the prior quarter.

E-commerce sales are sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or where price and terms of sale are negotiated over the Internet, an extranet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network, or other online system. Payment may or may not be made online. Retail e-commerce sales are estimated from the same sample used for the Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) to estimate preliminary and final U.S. retail sales. Advance U.S. retail sales are estimated from a subsample of the MRTS sample that is not of adequate size to measure changes in retail e-commerce sales.

E-commerce is a faster growing segment of the retail sector than retail sales overall. This report provides detail on e-commerce retail sales and data on its share of total retail sales. The growth rates and shares of e-commerce can be used as a benchmark to compare individual companies' growth in e-commerce. E-commerce increasingly is important for retailers' profitability and viability.