Dive Brief:
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U.S. shoppers spent $69.2 billion online in the fourth quarter last year, a 16.1% increase from 2012’s Q4 of $59.6 billion, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Tuesday.
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For 2013 as a whole, total e-commerce sales were $262.5 billion, an increase of 16.9% over 2012. Compare that to a total retail sales increase of 4.2% overall during the same period.
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E-commerce last year added up to 6% of Q4 retail sales, an increase from its portion of 5.4% in 2012.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. Department of Commerce creates these number-heavy reports with estimates based on a quarterly survey of more than 11,000 U.S. merchants, so its numbers are among the most reliable. Clearly, e-commerce is inching up in its portion of total retail sales, but this sober report also shows the dominance of America's brick-and-mortar stores.
