Retail ecommerce growth in the U.S. lagged brick-and-mortar in the first quarter of this year, according to new data from the Department of Commerce (PDF). In Q1 2025, total U.S. retail sales — online and in-store — reached $1.86 trillion, a 0.4% increase from Q4 2024, while online sales declined by 0.04% to $300.2 billion.
Ecommerce sales, per the DoC, are for “goods and services where the buyer places an order (or the price and terms of the sale are negotiated) over an Internet, mobile device, extranet, electronic data interchange network, electronic mail, or other comparable online system. Payment may or may not be made online.”
Ecommerce accounted for 16.2% of total U.S. retail sales in Q1 2025, unchanged from the prior quarter.
–
The DoC reports U.S. retail ecommerce sales in Q1 2025 grew by 6.1% compared to the same quarter in 2024, while total retail sales experienced a 4.5% annual rise over the same period.
