4 minutes

U.S. online retail sales have not grown at least 10% in a quarter since Q2 2021. The ecommerce growth rate in Q1 2026 was the second highest since then, tying Q3 2021 and falling just short of Q4 2023 (9.8%).

Ecommerce in the U.S. in Q1 2026 grew at nearly double the rate of total sales for the first time in more than a year.

Both total retail and ecommerce sales had also grown at their highest rates in more than two years. Total retail sales in the U.S. grew 4.9% year over year in Q1 2026, the first time they grew at least that fast since Q3 2022. Meanwhile, U.S. ecommerce sales in Q1 2026 grew 9.7% year over year and had last grown at least 9% in late 2023. Offline sales alone grew 3.5% in the quarter.

Q1 2026 was the first time outside a fourth quarter that U.S. ecommerce sales exceeded $300 billion. At the same time, total retail sales topped $1.271 trillion, but they had also crossed that threshold in 10 previous quarters going back to Q4 2021.

“The first quarter of 2026 represents the strongest U.S. Q1 ecommerce growth since a pandemic-aided Q1 in 2021,” said Jon Love, research data manager at Digital Commerce 360. “It is also the first time ecommerce sales have grown more than 9% in any quarter since Q4 of 2024. Economic concerns and global conflict still pose a threat to online and offline sales in the near future, but Q1 2026 more closely resembled the post-pandemic growth rates from 3-4 years ago.”

U.S. ecommerce sales in Q1 2026

In Q1 2026, U.S. ecommerce sales reached nearly $302.33 billion. That’s up from about $275.72 billion in Q1 2025.

U.S. offline retail sales were about $969.67 billion in Q1 2026, up from $936.52 billion the previous year.

In total, U.S. retail sales in Q1 2026 were about $1.272 trillion, up from $1.212 trillion the year before.

U.S. ecommerce sales have not grown by at least 10% in a quarter since Q2 2021. The online sales growth rate in Q1 2026 was the second highest since then, tying Q3 2021 and falling just short of Q4 2023 (9.8%).

Until 2022, it was typical for ecommerce to grow at least twice as fast as total retail sales in a given quarter. In Q1 2022, ecommerce and total retail sales grew at the same rate, 5.6%, before total retail sales outpaced ecommerce in Q2 that year. That was largely a result of the U.S. loosening pandemic restrictions. From Q3 2022 through 2024, the trend of ecommerce growing faster than the rate of total retail sales resumed.

Then, ecommerce growth outpaced total retail sales in each quarter of 2025, although not by much (relative to previous quarters). In Q4 2024, ecommerce growth more than doubled that of total retail sales. Q1 2026 is the closest since then that ecommerce growth has come to doubling the rate of total retail sales.

Also in Q1 2026, online grocery sales continued to increase at a rate of more than 20% year over year. In part, that came from faster delivery speeds. Mass Merchants such as Amazon and Walmart, as well as retailers that primarily sell in the Food & Beverage category (including Kroger and Albertsons) have been offering same-day delivery in about three hours. In some cases, that time frame has shortened to as soon as 30 minutes.

Whereas the Mass Merchants have their own fulfillment networks and fleets, other online retailers such as Kroger and Albertsons are increasingly relying on third-party companies to expand their last-mile delivery reach.

How is ecommerce penetration calculated? 

Digital Commerce 360 analysis indicates ecommerce represented 23.8% of total retail sales in Q1 2026. That’s the highest ecommerce penetration in a quarter aside from the past two Q4s since the Commerce Department began tracking online sales in 1999. The highest quarterly ecommerce penetration rates to date were 25.0% in Q4 2026 and 24.5% in Q4 2024.

Including all retail and food-service sales, U.S. ecommerce accounted for 16.9% of total sales in Q1 2026, according to the Commerce Department. Unadjusted figures show U.S. ecommerce sales represented 16.8% of total sales in Q1, the Commerce Department said. It estimates that total, unadjusted U.S. ecommerce sales in Q1 2026 reached $302.3 billion.

Digital Commerce 360 studies non-seasonally adjusted commerce department data and excludes spending in segments that don’t typically sell online. These segments include:

  • Restaurants
  • Bars
  • Automobile dealers
  • Gas stations
  • Fuel dealers

U.S. ecommerce penetration reflects the share of dollars consumers could potentially spend online.

The Commerce Department defines ecommerce sales as the sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sales are negotiated over:

  • Internet
  • Extranet
  • Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network
  • Electronic mail
  • Other online system

Payment may or may not be made online. The Commerce Department publishes estimates that it adjusts for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Here’s last quarter’s update on U.S. ecommerce sales.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.