comScore: U.S. Retail E-Commerce Spending Up 14 Percent Thanks To An Increase In Buyers

According to audience measurement and tracking firm comScore, U.S. retail e-commerce spending went up 14 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period a year ago. Online retail spending reached $37.5 billion for the quarter, primarily due to an increase in the number of buyers (up 16 percent), with 70 percent of all Internet users making at least one online purchase in the quarter.

We should note that spending was lower than the first quarter of the year, when comScore tracked $38 billion in retail e-commerce sales in the United States. Although, as you can see in the chart below, that is always the case, just like the fourth quarter of a year always has the highest spending because of the end-of-year holiday period.

The 14 percent bump compared to last year represented the seventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

According to comScore, the top 25 online retailers accounted for 66.4 percent of dollars spent online, down from 67.7 percent a year ago and down from a peak of 69.9 percent in Q3 2010.

comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni posits that almost $1 in every $10 of discretionary spending in the U.S. now occurs online.