The Steady Rise of Online Shopping

Over the past 25 years, the U.S. e-commerce landscape has steadily grown in size and scope. What started small with books, CDs, software and computer equipment is now all-encompassing, and it's hard to think of any goods that cannot be bought online these days. According to Statista Consumer Insights, 94 percent of U.S. adults have made an online purchase in the past 12 months, with clothing and shoes the most popular items among online shoppers. But how big is e-commerce really in the grand scheme of things?

According to data regularly published by the U.S. Census Bureau, the share of online sales in total retail sales in the United States is still smaller than many people might think. Only in 2019 did e-commerce sales reach a double-digit share of total retail sales (excl. food services) and even in 2025, online sales accounted for just 16.4 percent of U.S. retail sales. While that may not seem like a lot considering that many people make most of their non-food purchases online, it needs to be noted that total retail sales include categories such as motor vehicle and parts dealers, gas stations and of course grocery stores, all categories in which e-commerce still plays a very minor role. Other categories, most importantly clothing and footwear, are seeing significantly higher shares of online sales already.

As our chart shows, the share of e-commerce sales in total retail sales has grown steadily for most of the past 25 years, with just one exception: in 2020, the share of online sales jumped from 10.6 percent to 14.5 percent as millions of Americans resorted to online shopping in the face of stay-at-home orders and store closures. Covid-19 was also the reason for the only decline in the past 25 years. In 2022, the share of online sales dropped from 14.7 to 14.4 percent of U.S. retail sales, as stores reopened and people returned to brick-and-mortar stores.