Despite Slowing Growth, eCommerce Sales Reach Record Level in US

March 6, 2024 10:35:00

Latest figures from the Department of Commerce show that the slowest growth in e-commerce sales was recorded during the last quarter of 2023. This is in comparison to the previous quarter and 2022’s last quarter. In the third quarter of 2023, growth in ecommerce sales stood at 7.8% while that of 2022’s last quarter was 7.7%.

On a positive note, Q4 sales in the United States hit $324.8 billion, according to an analysis conducted by Digital Commerce 360. This figure represented more than 7% growth when compared with figures from the last quarter of 2022. Data from the department shows that food-service and retail sales made up roughly 15.5% of total sales in last year’s final quarter.

The department noted that unadjusted figures show ecommerce sales made up 17.1% of total sales, which stood at $1.1 trillion. In addition, analysis found that total retail sales recorded in the last quarter of 2023 hit almost $1.4 trillion. Of this figure, ecommerce sales in the country made up about 23%.

In a statement, Digital Commerce 360 senior analyst and research data manager James Risley stated that ecommerce sales growth recorded in each quarter of 2023 was steady. He noted that the last quarter finished off a steady year for ecommerce growth as buying trends observed after the pandemic continued to normalize.

Risley explained that growth in spending remained low because consumers were confused and frustrated by the economy’s outlook. Despite this, he added, holiday spending and online shopping deals propped up growth in ecommerce and allowed the year to end on a strong note.

The figures also show that ecommerce sales in the country grew at a faster pace in comparison to total sales; while total retail sales grew by 3.5%, online sales grew 7.2% year over year. In the report, Digital Commerce noted that quarter 4 saw the slowest growth in ecommerce sales since 2008 during the Great Recession, which caused a more than 6% dip in online sales.

Conversely, the total growth in retail sales increase stood at 3.5% in Q4 2023, from the 3.2% recorded the prior quarter. Despite the increase, the 3.5% is still lower than the 5% growth in retail sales recorded in 2022’s quarter three.

In addition, the analysis determined that a new high was also observed in the online penetration of total sales. Ecommerce penetration in the United States demonstrates the share of funds customers can possibly spend online.

Entities such as NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL) (NASDAQ: NXPLW) that have an interest in healthcare ecommerce could take encouragement from the growing online sales. This trend offers growth opportunities for operators in the online sales space.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL, NXPLW) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/NXPL

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