Online Retail Sales Up in 1Q

Washington, DC, May 17, 2007--Retail e-commerce sales in the first quarter were $31.5 billion, on an adjusted basis,  an increase of 3.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Commerce Department.

 Total retail sales for the first quarter were estimated at $999.5 billion, an increase of 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. First quarter e-commerce estimate increased 18.4 percent from the first quarter of 2006 while total retail sales increased 3.2 percent in the same period.

E-commerce sales in the first quarter of 2007 accounted for 3.2 percent of total sales.