Updated Retail Ecommerce Volumes

The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce has announced that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2006, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, was $27.5 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent (±1.5%) from the second quarter of 2006. Total retail sales for the third quarter of 2006 were estimated at $991.7 billion, an increase of 0.7 percent (±0.3%) from the second quarter of 2006. The third quarter 2006 e commerce estimate increased 20.9 percent (±5.3%) from the third quarter of 2005 while total retail sales increased 5.1 percent (±0.3%) in the same period. E-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2006 accounted for 2.8 percent of total sales.