Dive Brief:

• U.S. retail e-commerce sales last year totaled $791.7 billion, a 32.4% surge over 2019, the Census Bureau reported. 
• "Consumers filled up their virtual shopping carts with products that they might not have otherwise ordered online" because of the pandemic, CNBC reported.
• E-commerce sales now account for 14% of all sales, up from 11% in 2019. Total retail sales for the year increased 3.4%.

Dive Insight:

Consumers have been getting comfortable with online shopping and companies have been improving the transaction experience, Digital360 analysts said, but the pandemic “magnified trend lines in a big way.” 

The biggest jump in online sales occurred shortly after states issued stay-at-home orders. E-commerce sales jumped 44.4% in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019. They comprised 16.1% of all retail sales that quarter, a high.

Although still strong, online sales growth eased at the end of 2020, as restrictions were lifted and people ventured out more.  

E-commerce sales for the fourth quarter were $206.7 billion, down 1.2% from the third quarter, while retail sales for the quarter more broadly were $1.477 trillion, up 0.5%.