U.S. e-commerce sales expanded at a much slower pace in the holiday season of 2021, according to a report issued by Mastercard Inc. on Sunday.

U.S. e-commerce sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 grew 11 percent from the same period of 2020 in comparison with a hefty year-on-year increase of 47.2 percent in the holiday season of 2020, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse reports.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in robust expansion of online sales in the United States, but the breakneck growth has slowed down due to economic reopening and fading growth momentum.

E-commerce sales made up 20.9 percent of total retail sales in the holiday season of 2021, slightly higher from 20.6 percent in 2020. By contrast, e-commerce only accounted for 14.6 percent of total retail sales in the holiday season of 2019.

The United States reported 214.6 billion U.S. dollars of e-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2021, up 6.6 percent year on year, much lower than 36.1 percent of year-on-year expansion in the same period of 2020, according to adjusted statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Nov. 18.

The share of e-commerce in total retail sales even declined gradually from 13.8 percent in Q3 of 2020 to 13 percent in Q3 of 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

However, e-commerce sales in the holiday season of 2021 still posted a higher growth rate than 8.1 percent expansion of in-store retail sales, according to the Mastercard report.

The e-commerce channel continues to experience elevated growth as consumers enjoy the ease of holiday browsing and buying in the comfort of their own homes, said the report by Mastercard.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)