First Quarter E-Commerce Sales

The US Census Bureau reports that for the first quarter of 2012, e-commerce sales increased 3.1 percent over the fourth quarter of 2011. The total sales reported was $53.2 billion.As the chart above illustrates, e-commerce sales have been steadily increasing from 2003 to 2012.You can view the entire report at the US Census Bureau website.

Second Quarter E-Commerce Sales

ComScore, a company who measures the digital world and business analytics, reports that the online retail sales for the second quarter reached $43.2 billion. This is a 15% increase over the same quarter last year. Another indicator that online sales are growing.According to the ComScore report, the top-performing online categories were: digital content and subscriptions, consumer electronics, flowers, greetings and gifts, computer hardware, and apparel and accessories.