The Online Share of Retail

What it is

The US Census Bureau publishes a seasonally adjusted quarterly series. The share jumped from 11.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 16.3 per cent in the second, fell to about 14 per cent by 2022, and passed its 2020 peak again in 2025. Since the 2025 benchmark the series covers only businesses with paid employees.

The Office for National Statistics publishes a monthly British series. It was 19.1 per cent in February 2020, peaked at 37.8 per cent in January 2021, and has been around 27 per cent since 2024.

UNCTAD estimated that across seven large economies, online retail rose from about 16 per cent of retail sales in 2019 to about 19 per cent in 2020, using definitions that differ from the national series.

In effect

The pandemic produced a spike that largely reversed, leaving a smaller permanent gain and a return to steady growth. Most retail spending is still in physical shops in both countries.

What it does not say

It is not comparable across sources without care. Universes, adjustment and definitions differ, so a Census figure and an ONS figure cannot simply be set side by side.

It does not describe any single category or company.

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