E-commerce retail sales are up 1.9 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter, seasonally adjusted, which tops the upward-revised 1.5 percent quarterly rise in the second quarter (previously 1.4 percent), suggesting online shopping remains robust.

E-commerce retail sales are up 5.1 percent from the third quarter of 2024 while total retail sales increased 4.1 percent (±0.4%) in the same period.

E-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2025 accounted for 16.4 percent of total retail sales.

* This report was originally scheduled to be released on November 18, 2025 but was rescheduled due to the US Government Shutdown.

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.