Charts: U.S. Retail Ecommerce Sales Q1 2023

U.S. retail ecommerce sales grew by 3% in Q1 2023 from the previous quarter to hit $272.6 billion. That’s according to newly released data (PDF) by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce.

The estimated $1,799.5 billion in total U.S. retail sales — online and in-store — for Q1 2023 represents a 0.9% rise from Q4 2022.

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The Department of Commerce defines ecommerce sales as those 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 15.1% of total U.S. retail sales in Q1 2023, up from 14.8% in the prior quarter.

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Per the DoC, estimated U.S. ecommerce retail sales in Q1 2023 grew by 7.8% compared to Q1 2022, while total retail sales climbed by 3.4% during the same period.

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Statista’s Market Insights provides estimates for retail ecommerce, which Statista defines as the online sale of physical goods to individual consumers. It encompasses purchases made on desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets. Statista’s data does not include digitally distributed services, media downloads or streams, B2B digital goods, or the purchase/resale of used goods. The monetary figures represent annual gross revenue and exclude shipping costs.

According to Statista, the growth of retail ecommerce for physical goods in the United States will continue, reaching $1.56 trillion in revenue in 2027, up from $857 billion in 2022.