U.S. online sales reach $550 billion, up 7.5% in first seven months of 2024

Recently, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in the first seven months of 2024, U.S. online sales increased by 7.5% year-on-year to US$550 billion, accounting for 22% of retail sales revenue (excluding automobile, gasoline and restaurant revenue). The retail industry as a whole grew by 3.1%, and e-commerce accounted for half of this year's retail sales.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in online sales over the past three years, and online shopping has become increasingly popular since 2020. In 2020, total online sales surged by 41.7%, and increased again by 17.8% in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, online sales will reach US$1 trillion and US$1.1 trillion, respectively, and e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 10.95% in 2024, reaching US$1.12 trillion.

E-commerce growth has become the main engine of all retail in 2024. Online sales in 2024 are twice as high as in 2019, up 117% from the first six months of 2019.

Against this backdrop, online sales growth has been particularly strong for retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon. Walmart reported a 22% increase in U.S. online sales in the first six months of this year, while Amazon also grew 10.5%, with the two companies accounting for 16% and 15% of the online market share, respectively. The growth momentum of emerging e-commerce companies such as TikTok Marketplace, Temu and Shein is also not to be underestimated, and they have occupied a part of the U.S. online retail sales. TikTok Marketplace accounts for about 13% of the share, Temu accounts for 4%, and Shein accounts for 3%. In the first half of this year, these five retailers accounted for 51% of online spending. All other retailers (there are more than 13 million e-commerce websites in the United States), regardless of size, only have a 49% share.

It is worth noting that Walmart's online grocery business performed particularly strongly, accounting for more than 58% of total grocery sales in the U.S. As Walmart continues to improve delivery efficiency and optimize customer experience, its e-commerce business has maintained compound growth, with online grocery sales in the second quarter increasing to US$8.51 billion, e-commerce sales increasing by 22%, and weekly active customers increasing by 20%.

At the same time, other retailers such as Target, Costco and Best Buy are also actively expanding their online markets. Target's online sales increased by 8.7% year-on-year; Costco increased by 20.7%; Best Buy's online business accounted for 31% of its total sales; Sam's Club's e-commerce sales increased by 22% in the most recent quarter; Nordstrom's online sales increased by 6.2% in the most recent quarter, accounting for 34% of total revenue.

Author✎ Summer/
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