E-Commerce Sales Jump 26.7%, Reach Record Share of Overall Retail

U.S. e-commerce sales totaled $22.3 billion in the third quarter, up 26.7% from the year-ago period, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Transactions on the Internet now account for 2.3% of all U.S. retail sales, according to the latest figures, the highest share yet for sales online. E-commerce volume came to 2% of retail sales in 2004's third quarter. With more and more merchants offering wares online?and promoting them with Internet-only deals–sales in the online channel are also growing faster than at this time last year. The third quarter's 26.7% increase bettered the rate of growth of the third quarter last year, which came in at 22.2%, and was the fastest growth rate recorded so far this year. The Commerce Department includes sales on the Internet as well as over an extranet, e-mail, or electronic data interchange system in its calculation of e-commerce sales. Under its method, payment may or may not be made online. Its calculation does not include online travel services, ticket sales, or brokerage.