Online retail continues to show strength

RESTON, Va. — U.S. online retail recorded its eleventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to ComScore.



U.S. online retail spending reached $43.2 billion for the second quarter, up 15% over a year ago, according to ComScore.



“While the second quarter’s 15% growth rate couldn’t quite match the especially high growth rate from the first quarter, it was nevertheless almost four times higher than the growth in overall consumer spending, a sign of continued strength in the e-commerce channel,” ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said.



Although e-commerce remains strong, ComScore is taking a cautious view of the second half of the year in light of some renewed signs of economic uncertainty and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, Fulgoni added.



“So, even as commerce increasingly shifts to the online channel, any significant future pullback in overall consumer spending could dampen the strong double-digit growth rates we’ve been experiencing for the year-to-date,” he said.