ECommerce Tops 16% of Retail Sales
eCommerce Continues to Outpace traditional Retail Growth
Table of Contents
New data reveals sustained momentum in online sales, with significant shifts in consumer spending habits and payment preferences.
Published August 19, 2025
The Resilience of Online Retail
Despite predictions of a return to pre-pandemic shopping behaviors, online retail continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Recent data released Tuesday, august 19th, indicates that growth in eCommerce spending is outpacing overall retail sales growth, signaling a fundamental shift in how consumers shop.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, retail eCommerce sales for the second quarter of 2025 totaled $304.2 billion, seasonally adjusted. this represents a 1.4% increase from the first quarter of 2025 and a substantial 5.3% year-over-year (YoY) growth compared to Q2 2024.
Total retail sales reached $1,865.4 billion in Q2 2025, a 0.4% increase quarter-over-quarter and a 3.9% increase year-over-year. Consequently,eCommerce now accounts for 16.3% of total retail sales, a slight increase from the 16.1% share recorded in Q2 2024.
Shifting Spending Patterns Across Sectors
eCommerce growth wasn’t uniform across all sectors in Q2 2025. Several key areas experienced notably strong gains.
- Motor Vehicles & Parts: Online sales surged to $17.2 billion, an 8.3% increase from Q1 2025 and a significant 15.9% YoY increase, demonstrating growing consumer comfort with purchasing vehicles and parts online.
- Furniture, Building Materials & Electronics: This category maintained strong momentum, with eCommerce sales reaching $30.1 billion – an 8.7% quarterly increase and 8.1% higher than Q2 2024.
- Clothing & General Merchandise: Remaining the largest contributor to eCommerce sales, this category generated $53.8 billion in sales, up 8.6% from Q1 and 11.2% YoY.General merchandise drove the majority of this growth, while online clothing and accessories experienced more moderate growth (9.2% quarterly, -1.3% YoY).
- Building Materials & Garden Supplies: this sector saw a dramatic jump in online sales, increasing 34.7% compared to Q1, even though yoy growth moderated to 9.9%.
The Digital Wallet and Payment Preferences
Consumer payment preferences continue to diverge between online and in-store shopping experiences. Data indicates a clear preference for credit cards when shopping online, while debit cards remain dominant in physical retail locations.
Specifically, consumers are 27% more likely to use credit cards for online retail transactions compared to debit cards. Conversely, in physical stores, they are 50% more likely to use debit cards. Digital wallets are also gaining traction,with consumers being twice as likely to use them for online purchases (16%) compared to in-store purchases (8%).
Looking Ahead: Continued Growth and Key Events
The positive trends observed in Q2 2025 appear poised to continue. July retail sales data shows a 0.5% increase over June’s levels (which was itself revised upward to a 0.9% gain),suggesting sustained consumer spending.
Major sales events like Amazon’s extended four-day Prime Day and Walmart’s six-day Walmart+ Week played a significant role. PYMNTS Intelligence data reveals that 52% of all U.S. adults participated in Prime Day, spending an average of $360 - a 10% increase from the previous year. Walmart+ Week shoppers spent an average of