US ecommerce sales reached $302.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 9.7% from the same quarter a year ago. That is the fastest online sales have grown in more than four years, and the first time a non-holiday quarter has crossed the $300 billion mark.
For the full year 2025, Americans spent $1.23 trillion online, which works out to 16.4% of all retail sales in the country.
All the numbers in this post come from the US Census Bureau, the official source for retail and ecommerce data in the United States. We update this page every quarter, as soon as the Census Bureau releases new data.
US Ecommerce Sales 2026: Key Takeaways
- US ecommerce sales hit $302.3 billion in Q1 2026, growing 9.7% year over year.
- On a seasonally adjusted basis, US ecommerce sales were $326.7 billion in Q1 2026, up 9.8%.
- Online sales grew about 2.5 times faster than total retail sales in Q1 2026.
- Full-year 2025 ecommerce sales totaled $1.23 trillion, up 5.4% from 2024.
- It is projected that full-year sales for 2026 will reach $1.35 trillion.
- Ecommerce now accounts for 16.4% of total US retail sales, up from just 0.9% in 2000.
- Q4 2025 was the biggest quarter ever for online shopping at $365.2 billion, thanks to the holiday season.
- The fourth quarter alone brings in close to 30% of the year’s online sales every year.
US Ecommerce Sales in Q1 2026
American shoppers spent $302.3 billion online in the first three months of 2026. A year earlier, in Q1 2025, that figure was $275.7 billion. The 9.7% jump is a clear step up from 2025, when growth stayed in the 5% to 6% range all year.
| Q1 2026 | Ecommerce Sales | Growth (YoY) | Share of Total Retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not adjusted (actual sales) | $302.3 billion | +9.7% | 16.8% |
| Seasonally adjusted | $326.7 billion | +9.8% | 16.9% |
The not-adjusted number is what shoppers actually spent during the quarter. The adjusted number smooths out seasonal patterns, like the post-holiday slowdown that hits every first quarter, so you can compare one quarter to the next fairly. Both tell the same story here: online sales picked up real speed at the start of 2026.
On the adjusted basis, ecommerce sales also grew 2.7% from Q4 2025, so the momentum is quarter over quarter too, not just against last year.
Ecommerce Is Growing Much Faster Than Retail Overall
Total US retail sales grew 3.9% year over year in Q1 2026 (seasonally adjusted). Ecommerce grew 9.8% over the same period. In plain terms, online sales grew about two and a half times faster than retail as a whole.
That gap matters. Through 2025, ecommerce was still outgrowing total retail, but only by a couple of percentage points each quarter. Q1 2026 is the widest the gap has been since late 2024, and it is the reason the online share of retail keeps climbing.
Much of this acceleration is also being supported by AI-powered personalization, product recommendations, dynamic pricing, and automation. Check out our latest AI in ecommerce statistics to see how retailers are using AI to drive online sales growth.
US Ecommerce Sales by Year (2000 to 2025)
In 2000, Americans spent $27.2 billion online, less than 1% of retail. In 2025, they spent $1.23 trillion, more than 45 times as much.
| Year | US Ecommerce Sales | Change From Previous Year | Share of Total US Retail Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $27.2 billion | N/A | 0.9% |
| 2001 | $33.5 billion | +23.3% | 1.1% |
| 2002 | $43.5 billion | +30.0% | 1.4% |
| 2003 | $55.7 billion | +27.9% | 1.7% |
| 2004 | $70.3 billion | +26.2% | 2.1% |
| 2005 | $88.8 billion | +26.3% | 2.5% |
| 2006 | $109.8 billion | +23.7% | 2.9% |
| 2007 | $132.6 billion | +20.8% | 3.4% |
| 2008 | $138.1 billion | +4.1% | 3.6% |
| 2009 | $142.0 billion | +2.9% | 4.0% |
| 2010 | $167.0 billion | +17.6% | 4.5% |
| 2011 | $196.4 billion | +17.6% | 4.9% |
| 2012 | $227.5 billion | +15.8% | 5.4% |
| 2013 | $256.2 billion | +12.6% | 5.9% |
| 2014 | $291.9 billion | +14.0% | 6.4% |
| 2015 | $331.5 billion | +13.6% | 7.1% |
| 2016 | $377.0 billion | +13.7% | 7.9% |
| 2017 | $435.5 billion | +15.5% | 8.8% |
| 2018 | $498.4 billion | +14.4% | 9.7% |
| 2019 | $561.7 billion | +12.7% | 10.6% |
| 2020 | $798.5 billion | +42.1% | 14.6% |
| 2021 | $936.6 billion | +17.3% | 14.6% |
| 2022 | $997.5 billion | +6.5% | 14.4% |
| 2023 | $1,087.0 billion | +9.0% | 15.4% |
| 2024 | $1,170.0 billion | +7.6% | 16.1% |
| 2025 | $1,233.7 billion | +5.4% | 16.4% |
Resourcera’s observations from the above data
- 2020 was different from every other year. Online sales grew by 42.1% as the COVID-19 pandemic led more people to shop online. It was much faster growth than in a typical year.
- Sales crossed $1 trillion for the first time in 2023. 2022 came close at $997.5 billion, but 2023 was the first full year above the trillion-dollar line.
- The 5% to 9% annual growth of the past few years looks slow next to the double-digit years before the pandemic. But the base is far bigger now. The $63.7 billion added in 2025 alone is more than the entire US ecommerce market of 2003.
- Sales have more than doubled since before the pandemic. 2025 sales were 2.2 times the 2019 total.
Not Adjusted Quarterly US Ecommerce Sales (2018 to 2026)
U.S. ecommerce sales reached $302.3 billion in Q1 2026, making it the first time a first-quarter sales total crossed the $300 billion mark.
The highest quarterly ecommerce sales on record came in Q4 2025, when online sales reached $365.2 billion. During that quarter, ecommerce also accounted for 18.3% of all U.S. retail sales, the highest share ever recorded.
| Quarter | US Ecommerce Sales (Seasonally Not Adjusted) | Change (YoY) | Share of Total US Retail Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2018 | $109.7 billion | +16.3% | 9.2% |
| Q2 2018 | $117.4 billion | +16.3% | 9.0% |
| Q3 2018 | $118.4 billion | +15.2% | 9.2% |
| Q4 2018 | $152.8 billion | +11.2% | 11.2% |
| Q1 2019 | $119.5 billion | +9.0% | 9.9% |
| Q2 2019 | $130.2 billion | +10.9% | 9.7% |
| Q3 2019 | $136.4 billion | +15.2% | 10.2% |
| Q4 2019 | $175.6 billion | +14.9% | 12.4% |
| Q1 2020 | $144.4 billion | +20.8% | 11.7% |
| Q2 2020 | $200.9 billion | +54.3% | 15.5% |
| Q3 2020 | $201.7 billion | +47.8% | 14.2% |
| Q4 2020 | $251.5 billion | +43.3% | 16.6% |
| Q1 2021 | $210.7 billion | +45.9% | 14.7% |
| Q2 2021 | $228.9 billion | +13.9% | 13.9% |
| Q3 2021 | $221.4 billion | +9.8% | 13.8% |
| Q4 2021 | $275.6 billion | +9.6% | 16.0% |
| Q1 2022 | $226.0 billion | +7.3% | 14.2% |
| Q2 2022 | $240.5 billion | +5.1% | 13.5% |
| Q3 2022 | $241.5 billion | +9.1% | 13.8% |
| Q4 2022 | $289.5 billion | +5.0% | 16.0% |
| Q1 2023 | $243.6 billion | +7.7% | 14.8% |
| Q2 2023 | $260.9 billion | +8.5% | 14.6% |
| Q3 2023 | $264.7 billion | +9.6% | 14.8% |
| Q4 2023 | $317.9 billion | +9.8% | 17.1% |
| Q1 2024 | $261.1 billion | +7.2% | 15.5% |
| Q2 2024 | $278.3 billion | +6.7% | 15.3% |
| Q3 2024 | $284.8 billion | +7.6% | 15.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $345.9 billion | +8.8% | 17.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $275.7 billion | +5.6% | 15.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $293.1 billion | +5.3% | 15.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $299.7 billion | +5.2% | 15.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $365.2 billion | +5.6% | 18.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $302.3 billion | +9.7% | 16.8% |
Seasonally Adjusted US Ecommerce Quarterly Sales (2020 to 2026)
Seasonally adjusted figures are the same sales data with the calendar effects removed. The Census Bureau smooths out predictable seasonal swings like the Q4 holiday surge, differences in the number of trading days, and moving holidays such as Easter. Prices are not adjusted, so inflation is still part of the numbers.
The point of the adjusted series is comparison. It is the only fair way to check whether the market grew from one quarter to the next, because it strips out the holiday spike that would otherwise make every Q4 look like a boom and every Q1 look like a crash.
| Quarter | Ecommerce Sales (Seasonally Adjusted) | Change From Same Quarter Last Year | Share of Total Retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2020 | $156.9 billion | +20.5% | 11.9% |
| Q2 2020 | $208.1 billion | +53.5% | 16.3% |
| Q3 2020 | $212.4 billion | +47.3% | 14.9% |
| Q4 2020 | $217.2 billion | +44.5% | 15.0% |
| Q1 2021 | $227.9 billion | +45.3% | 14.9% |
| Q2 2021 | $236.0 billion | +13.4% | 14.6% |
| Q3 2021 | $232.2 billion | +9.3% | 14.5% |
| Q4 2021 | $239.8 billion | +10.4% | 14.6% |
| Q1 2022 | $244.0 billion | +7.0% | 14.4% |
| Q2 2022 | $248.0 billion | +5.1% | 14.2% |
| Q3 2022 | $252.0 billion | +8.5% | 14.5% |
| Q4 2022 | $252.7 billion | +5.4% | 14.6% |
| Q1 2023 | $263.0 billion | +7.8% | 15.0% |
| Q2 2023 | $269.7 billion | +8.8% | 15.3% |
| Q3 2023 | $275.2 billion | +9.2% | 15.4% |
| Q4 2023 | $276.8 billion | +9.5% | 15.5% |
| Q1 2024 | $283.0 billion | +7.6% | 15.9% |
| Q2 2024 | $288.8 billion | +7.1% | 16.1% |
| Q3 2024 | $295.2 billion | +7.3% | 16.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $300.3 billion | +8.5% | 16.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $297.7 billion | +5.2% | 16.0% |
| Q2 2025 | $304.5 billion | +5.4% | 16.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $310.8 billion | +5.3% | 16.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $318.0 billion | +5.9% | 16.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $326.7 billion | +9.8% | 16.9% |
The adjusted series tells a quieter but clearer story. Once the pandemic surge of 2020 and 2021 settled, online sales fell into a steady rhythm of roughly 2% growth per quarter. In the last five years there have been only two quarterly declines, a 1.6% dip in Q3 2021 as physical stores reopened and a 0.9% dip in Q1 2025, and both were recovered within a quarter.
Q1 2026 stands out on this measure too. The 2.7% rise from Q4 2025 was the fastest quarter-over-quarter growth since early 2023, which confirms the pickup in the year-over-year numbers is real momentum.
The Holiday Quarter Does the Heavy Lifting
The fourth quarter, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the December holiday season, consistently generates nearly 30% of all annual U.S. ecommerce sales.
This means that nearly one out of every three dollars Americans spend online each year is spent during the final three months of the year. The holiday shopping season remains the busiest and most important period for ecommerce retailers.
| Year | Share of Annual U.S. Ecommerce Sales Generated in Q4 of that year |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 29.4% |
| 2022 | 29.0% |
| 2023 | 29.2% |
| 2024 | 29.6% |
| 2025 | 29.6% |
Some Interesting Findings From US Ecommerce Sales Data Over The Years
Some numbers tell the story of US ecommerce better than any paragraph could. Every stat below comes straight from the Census Bureau data covered in this post.
US ecommerce sales have not grown 10% or more in a quarter since Q2 2021
The last time online sales grew at least 10% year over year was Q2 2021, at the tail end of the pandemic boom. Since then, the closest calls have been Q4 2023 at 9.8% and Q1 2026 at 9.7%. Growth has settled into a steadier band, but Q1 2026 shows it can still push right up against double digits.
Online sales have fallen year over year in only three quarters in 26 years
Across more than a quarter century of data, ecommerce sales dropped below the prior year just three times: Q4 2008, Q1 2009, and Q2 2009, during the depths of the financial crisis. The worst of those was a 6.3% decline. Nothing since, not even the reopening of physical stores after the pandemic, has pushed online sales into an annual decline.
Ecommerce has outgrown total retail for 13 straight quarters
The last time total retail sales grew faster than online sales was Q4 2022, when stores were still riding the post-pandemic return to in-person shopping. From Q1 2023 through Q1 2026, ecommerce has beaten total retail growth in every single quarter, which is why its share of retail keeps setting records.
It took 19 years for the US ecommerce sales to reach $500 billion, then 4 only years to pass $1 trillion
Annual online sales crossed $500 billion for the first time in 2019, nearly two decades after the Census Bureau started measuring in 1999. The second half trillion took just four years, with sales passing $1 trillion in 2023. Scale compounds.
Q2 2020 saw the biggest quarterly jump on record: +54.3%
When the pandemic hit, online sales exploded. Q2 2020 grew 54.3% over the previous year, the largest jump since the early 2000s when the market was a fraction of its current size. In dollar terms, shoppers spent about $71 billion more online that quarter than a year earlier.
Q4 2025 was the first quarter where online took more than 18% of retail spending
The 2025 holiday quarter set two records at once: the highest quarterly sales ever at $365.2 billion, and the highest ecommerce share of retail ever at 18.3%. No previous quarter had crossed the 18% line.
US online sales have more than doubled since 2019
Annual ecommerce sales went from $561.7 billion in 2019 to $1.23 trillion in 2025. That is a 2.2x increase in six years. Total retail grew over the same stretch too, but nowhere near as fast, which is why the online share of retail climbed from 10.6% to 16.4%.
The holiday quarter delivers close to 30% of the year’s online sales, every year
For five straight years, from 2021 through 2025, the fourth quarter has accounted for between 29.0% and 29.6% of annual ecommerce sales. The number barely moves. Whatever else changes in the market, Americans still do their biggest online spending between October and December.
Source: Census.gov
Why Some Reports Show a Higher Ecommerce Share
You may see other sources claim that ecommerce makes up 20% or more of US retail. The gap comes down to definitions, not disagreement about the underlying sales.
The Census Bureau’s share, 16.8% in Q1 2026, divides online sales by all retail sales, including categories where almost nobody buys online, like gasoline and car dealership sales. Some analysts strip those categories out before calculating the share, on the logic that they measure the portion of “shoppable” retail that happens online. Remove cars and gas from the denominator and the share climbs several points.
Neither approach is wrong. They just answer slightly different questions. This post sticks with the official Census figures throughout, so every number here comes from one consistent source.
Separately, some market research firms publish larger dollar figures for the “US ecommerce market” because they include things the Census retail data does not, such as travel bookings and event tickets. That is why you might see a bigger trillion-dollar number elsewhere for the same year.
What Counts as Ecommerce in This Report
A sale is considered ecommerce when the buyer places the order, or negotiates the price and terms, over the internet, a mobile device, email, or another online system. Payment does not have to happen online. So a buy-online-pickup-in-store order counts, and so does an order placed through an app.
Two versions of the data are published each quarter:
- Not adjusted: the raw sales that actually happened. Best for annual totals and for seeing real seasonal patterns like the Q4 spike.
- Seasonally adjusted: sales with seasonal swings, holidays, and trading-day differences smoothed out. Best for comparing one quarter to the next.
The most recent quarter is always marked preliminary and gets revised slightly when the next quarter’s report comes out.
When Is This Data Updated
About seven weeks after each quarter ends, in mid-February, mid-May, mid-August, and mid-November. The Q1 2026 figures in this report are from May 18, 2026.
The next release, covering Q2 2026, is expected in mid-August of 2026.
You can bookmark this page so you stay updated on the latest data every time.
What to Expect for the Rest of 2026 and Beyond
If the rest of 2026 grows anywhere between the 5% pace of 2025 and the near-10% pace of Q1, full-year sales would land somewhere around $1.35 trillion. The market will keep on growing at a CAGR of 8.99% till 2030 and reach $1.90 trillion.
US eCommerce sales projection from 2026 to 2030:
| Year | Projected U.S. Ecommerce Sales |
|---|---|
| 2026* | $1.35 trillion |
| 2027* | $1.47 trillion |
| 2028* | $1.60 trillion |
| 2029* | $1.75 trillion |
| 2030* | $1.90 trillion |
Source: Statista
