"The third quarter 2011 e-commerce estimate increased 13.7 percent from the third quarter of 2010.” - US Census Bureau News, 11/17/2011

The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce released their third-quarter findings* today. Adjusting for seasonal variation, but not price changes, the report shows US retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2011 of $48.2 billion. This represents a 1.9 percent increase from the second quarter of 2011.

An estimated $1.05 trillion in retail sales was reported in the 2011 third quarter. E-commerce sales represented 4.6 percent of the total sales. This was the same percentage reported for 2Q 2011.

The estimate of US retail e-commerce sales, when not adjusted, was $44.5 billion for the third quarter of 2011. This represents a 13.4 percent increase over the third quarter of 2010 and accounts for 4.2 percent of total sales.*The US Census Bureau uses a random sampling of 12,500 retail firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked. This is the same sample used for the Monthly Retail Trade Survey to estimate retail sales.