Report: New Data Shows Extent of E-Commerce’s Differing Impact on Retail Categories

E-Commerce has generated significant volumes of sales in the U.S. electronics and clothing industries but has yet to gain traction in other retail sectors, according to a CBRE Group, Inc. analysis of recently released government data.

U.S. Commerce Department figures show extensive e-commerce penetration in certain retail categories such as electronics and appliances, with a 19.5 percent share of category sales – or $20.4 billion – occurring online. Similarly, $24.2 billion of apparel and accessories sales occurred online, but that amounted to only 9.5 percent of that sector’s overall sales.

Other categories, such as food and beverage and motor vehicles, both under 0.1 percent, remain relatively unscathed. The Commerce Department data is from 2015, the latest available.


“This new data underscores the categories that shopping-center owners will find most resilient amid online sales, including health care, food and beverage, and motor vehicles,” said Melina Cordero, CBRE Head of Americas Retail Research. “One finding that might surprise some observers is that e-commerce accounts for a smaller percentage of apparel sales – 9.5 percent – than many may assume, given recent store-closure announcements and current rhetoric in the market.

To read the full report, click here.

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