Online sales hit $7.45 billion in Q2, 0.9% of retail sales, says new report

Online retail sales reached $7.458 billion in the second quarter, down 1.8% from the first quarter but up 24.7% from the second quarter of last year, the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce reported today.

The Census Bureau estimates that total retail sales for second quarter 2001 reached $807.5 billion, an increase of 3.8% from the same period a year ago and 10.8% from the first quarter.

Online sales in the second quarter of 2001 accounted for 0.9% of total sales. In the first quarter, e-commerce sales represented 1% of total sales. E-commerce sales were 0.8% of total sales in second quarter 2000.

The Census Bureau bases its figures on a survey of 11,000 retailers. The results do not include online travel or event tickets sales. The Census Bureau began reporting online sales for the fourth quarter 1999, when such sales reached $5.26 billion, .67% of all retail sales.