$340.2B
U.S. retail e-commerce sales in Q2 2026
Seasonally adjusted sales, not adjusted for price changes.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 18, 2026Reference shelf
U.S. online retail & apparel statistics: 2026.
A source-backed collection of current U.S. e-commerce, retail, and apparel figures for writers, researchers, and curious shopkeepers.
Last updated September 18, 2026
At a glance
Six numbers worth keeping close.
These figures place independent apparel and gift shops in the wider retail picture. Each one links to its original public release, with the reporting date shown beside it.
17.1%
of total U.S. retail sales came from e-commerce in Q2 2026
The seasonally adjusted share of all quarterly retail sales.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 18, 2026+12.2%
year-over-year e-commerce sales growth in Q2 2026
Total retail sales grew 6.7% over the same period.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 18, 2026$1.99T
total U.S. retail sales in Q2 2026
The Census estimate was $1,986.5 billion, seasonally adjusted.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 18, 2026+3.8%
quarter-over-quarter e-commerce sales growth in Q2 2026
The comparable total-retail increase was 2.9%.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 18, 2026+2.2%
monthly change in the U.S. apparel price index in August 2026
Calculated from the July index of 125.492 and August index of 128.281, rounded to one decimal place.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2026 dataWhat the figures show
Online retail is still taking a larger share of the shopping basket.
The latest Census release puts e-commerce growth ahead of total retail growth for the same quarter. That does not predict what any one store will sell, but it does show why a clear online storefront, useful product details, and distinctive work matter to shoppers who can buy nearly anything from nearly anywhere.
For a small apparel and gift label, the useful lesson is not to chase every trend. It is to make the work recognizable, easy to choose, and worth returning to when a person needs a gift, a favorite layer, or one small useful thing with some character in it.
Method & sources
How to read this page.
This page uses the most recent public U.S. releases available on September 18, 2026. Retail sales figures are reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and are not adjusted for price changes. The apparel price change is calculated from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index series, using its published July and August 2026 index values.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, second quarter 2026, released August 18, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Apparel, August 2026 data, accessed September 18, 2026.
Cite this page
Spool-and-spindle. “U.S. Online Retail & Apparel Statistics: 2026.” Updated September 18, 2026. https://spoolandspindle.store/retail-statistics
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