Q4 | Digital – In a year when shoppers turned online in

In a year when shoppers turned online in droves because of the pandemic, consumers spent 32.1 percent more online in the last quarter of 2020 than they did in the same period in 2019, according to U.S. Commerce Department data released Friday. E-commerce reached $245.28 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $185 billion a year earlier. In the same quarter a year earlier, retail purchases totaled $70 billion, with one in five dollars spent on retail purchases coming from online orders. The share of digital sales in total retail sales has historically increased each year as consumers become more accustomed to shopping online and retailers optimize their e-commerce operations for faster and more efficient product delivery. A quarterly increase in e-commerce penetration of nearly four percentage points is a big headline since no other year or quarter prior to 2020 saw a two percentage point year-over-year increase in digital share. But that changed in the second quarter, when digital sales grew 44 percent. 4 percent, the second fastest growth rate of any quarter or year for which data are available, as shoppers flocked to find basic groceries at a time when home orders stayed home and stores closed. The change in buying behavior caused by COVID-19 added $33.31 billion in online sales in the fourth quarter, according to Digital Commerce 360 estimates. Online sales accounted for nearly two-thirds-64.2% of total retail sales growth in the fourth quarter, up slightly from 61.4% a year earlier. All-channel sales reached $1.14 trillion last quarter, up from $1.04 trillion in 2019, according to Digital Commerce 360’s data analysis. Digital Commerce 360 estimates that more than one in five dollars spent on retail purchases last quarter came from online orders. The strong 8.9 percent growth rate — the highest in the fourth quarter and the second highest in all quarters and years — was surprising in a year marked by store closings, continued consumer concerns about spending in public places and significant growth in e-commerce. 2020, ranked No. 1 in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000, had a significant impact on the U.S. e-commerce market last year. Online sales in the first quarter were up just 14.6% over the first quarter of last year and still show no signs of changing shopping habits due to the Corona virus. Digital Commerce 360 analyzes unseasonally adjusted Commerce Department data and excludes spending from segments not normally sold online, such as restaurants, bars, car dealerships, gas stations and fuel retailing. While consumers flooded online retailers during the pandemic, Amazon increased its market share by 36.8% during the same quarter in 2019. Online penetration reached 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to Digital Commerce 360 estimates. In addition, the web giant accounted for more than half, or 54.5%, of total U.S. e-commerce growth in the fourth quarter and more than a third, or 35.0%, of total retail growth.