U.S. e-commerce share of total retail by business

In 2019, 4.7 percent of clothing and clothing accessories retail sales in the United States were generated through e-commerce. In health and personal care stores, e-commerce accounted for only 0.3 percent of total retail sales that year.

Retail vs. wholesale

E-commerce sales represented 10.7 percent of total retail sales in the United States in 2019. Private consumers are, however, not the biggest beneficiaries of online shopping, but the manufacturing and wholesale sectors. In 2019, e-commerce transactions represented over two-thirds of manufacturing shipments and revenues in the U.S.

Leading online retailers

In a ranking of the leading e-retailers in North America, Amazon.com is the undisputable leader. The company generated a revenue of over 236 billion U.S. dollars in that region in 2019. Amazon also ranks first in terms of online traffic, with an average of 2.5 billion visits per month in the United States, well ahead of other e-commerce giants such as eBay and Walmart. Some of the most popular e-commerce product categories are furniture and home furnishings, audio and video recordings, and computer software, where online sales represent over 92 percent of total sales.

E-commerce as percentage of total retail sales in the United States in 2019, by business

Characteristic	Share of e-commerce sales
Nonstore retailers	65.5%
Nonstore retailers - Electronic shopping and mail-order houses	74.4%
Total retail trade	10.7%
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	4.7%
Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores	4%
Miscellaneous store retailers	4%
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	3.4%
Electronics and appliance stores	2%
Furniture and home furnishings stores	1.8%
Food and beverage stores	1.1%
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	0.6%
Health and personal care stores	0.3%

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Release date

July 2021

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2019

Supplementary notes

Data for gasoline stations and general merchandise stores was excluded. In these segments, estimates did not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability, poor response quality, or other concerns about the estimate's quality. Unpublished estimates derived from this table by subtraction are subject to these same limitations and should not be attributed to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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