US E-Retail Sales Top $300 Billion

U.S. online retail sales passed $300 billion for the first time in 2014, and averaged 7.7 percent of all U.S. retail sales during the last three months of 2014, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday (Feb. 17).

The Commerce Department’s estimates, which are based on a quarterly survey of 10,000 retailers, also point to online retail’s first $100-billion quarter when the holiday season rolls around at the end of 2015.

Seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales for the year climbed to $303.9 billion, up 15.4 percent from 2013. Both e-commerce sales and online’s share of total retail sales climbed steadily over the course of the year.

Without the Commerce Department’s smoothing out of seasonal variations, total 2014 e-commerce sales were even more impressive: $304.9 billion, up 15.4 percent. That compares with a 3.8 percent increase in overall 2014 U.S. retail sales in 2014. For the full year, e-commerce sales accounted for 6.5 percent of total sales, up from 5.8 percent in 2013.

E-commerce sales’ share of the whole retail pie varies over the course of the year, hitting a peak in Q4. For Q4 2013, that peak was 7.0 percent, while for Q4 2014 it was 7.7 percent. E-commerce sales for Q4 hit an estimated total of $95.98 billion, which means the holiday season for 2015 is likely to produce U.S. e-commerce’s first $100-billion quarter.

Despite predictions that overall retail sales would be down for the quarter, the Commerce report said that year-over-year sales were up for both seasonally adjusted and non-adjusted estimates. In the adjusted version, Q4 retail sales were $1.187 trillion, up 3.7 percent from Q4 2013’s $1.145 trillion. Unadjusted, Q4 retail sales were $1.243 trillion, up 3.8 percent from Q4 2013’s $1.197 trillion.

While that’s good news, it may say more about the the spreading out of holiday buying, rather than strength of the traditional Black-Friday-to-Christmas-Eve holiday selling season. In January, the Commerce Department reported that December retail sales fell 0.9 percent from the previous month, the biggest drop in 11 months.