U.S. e-commerce sales grew 19% in 2007, the Commerce Department says

U.S. e-commerce sales grew 19% in 2007, the Commerce Department says

U.S. e-commerce sales grew 19% in 2007 to $136.4 billion, while overall retail sales grew by only 4%, the U.S. Commerce Department reports. In the fourth quarter, e-commerce sales totaled $36.2 billion, 18% more than the same quarter in 2006, while total retail sales increased 4.7%.

E-commerce accounted for 3.4% of all U.S. retail sales in 2007, up from 2.9% in 2006, the Commerce Department estimates. However, the Commerce Department retail sales figure includes many sales that are not likely to occur online—such as restaurant, convenience store, gasoline and heating fuel receipts. Excluding such sales, Internet Retailer estimates about 6% of U.S. retail sales occur online.

The Commerce Department figures are adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.