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US e-commerce sales reach all time high
Wednesday, February 20 2002
by Matthew Clark


Figures from the US Census Bureau show a whopping 34 percent jump in e-commerce
sales in the US in the last three months of 2001 compared to the previous
quarter. 

The US Census Bureau said that retail e-commerce sales in the US during the final
three months of 2001 (Q4) came to over USD10 billion, slightly more than one
percent of the country's total retail sales of USD860 billion.  

The latest e-commerce figures from the US government are the highest ever, by a
margin of over USD1.1 billion, since the bureau began keeping such records in
late 1999.  Moreover, while total retail sales in the US were up only 5.3
percent from the same time in 2000, e-commerce sales saw a 13 percent increase. 



The figures show two important trends for the e-commerce industry in America.
Primarily the US Census Bureau's numbers demonstrate that e-commerce sales were
significantly higher for Christmas 2001, compared to Christmas 2000.
Additionally, the data indicates that e-commerce, both as a portion of overall
retail sales and as a standalone figure, is on the rise with three quarters of
growth in the sector for last year. 



For the full year, e-commerce sales were estimated at USD32.6 billion, an
increase of 19 percent from 2000. But in that time, total retail sales edged up
only 3.3 percent from 2000. In 2001, e-commerce sales accounted for one percent
of total sales compared to 2000 when they only accounted for 0.9 percent of total
sales.



In the June to October quarter of 2001, e-commerce sales actually fell by almost
three percent quarter-on-quarter for the second time since 1999. But in the
Christmas quarter, e-commerce retail sales showed the third biggest
quarter-on-quarter jump ever at 9.5 percent. 





The US Census Bureau's figures are estimated from the same sample used in the
Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS). A stratified simple random sampling method is
used to select approximately 11,000 retail firms whose sales are then weighted
and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of over two million retail
firms. 



There is a two percent margin of error in the figures provided and it is also
important to note that the Census Bureau does not take into account seasonal
variables. 



The US Census Bureau defines e-commerce sales as the sale of goods and services
where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sale are negotiated
over an Internet, extranet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network, electronic
mail, or other on-line system. Payment may or may not be made on-line.