E-commerce vs total retail growth, Q1 2026
Year-over-year sales growth, %.
About this data
E-commerce sales grew 9.8% year over year in Q1 2026 against 3.9% for total retail — online is still taking share, at roughly 2.5x the growth rate of the market as a whole. That gap, not the absolute penetration figure, is what drives the share line upward.
E-commerce vs total retail growth, Q1 2026
Year-over-year sales growth, %.
Data table
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Aug 14, 2026Methodology
Figures are US Census Bureau quarterly retail e-commerce estimates, expressed as a percentage of total retail sales. Census e-commerce excludes travel, ticketing and financial services, so the number is lower than "online consumer spending" measures that include them. Quarters are compared like-for-like (Q1 to Q1) to avoid the large Q4 holiday seasonality in the unadjusted series. CAVEAT: Q1 2022 through Q1 2025 are published by Census but were not retrieved in this run, so the line has a gap rather than an interpolation. It will be filled on the next refresh. Re-verified 2026-08-10.
Sources
- US Census Bureau — Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales ↗ Public domain
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.