Growth in online sales cools a bit in July to 20%, comScore reports

Growth in online consumer retail sales in July slipped from the hot pace they set in the first half of the year, comScore Networks Inc. reported today. Online consumer retail spending grew 20% in July vs. July last year, to $3.1 billion. In the first six months of the year, online sales were up 29%, comScore reports.

One of the hottest retail growth categories was computers, where online consumer sales grew 30% to $927 million in July. Traffic to Dell.com increased 34% from June to July, moving Dell into the top 50 ranking at number 49 with 9.2 million unique visitors in the month.

Travel spending growth remained very strong, up 32% in July vs. July a year ago, reaching $2.9 billion.

“Although consumer spending has been variously impacted by market uncertainty, we’re seeing encouraging results in key e-commerce categories,” said Peter Daboll, comScore Media Metrix division president.