Online shopping tops brick-and-mortar for first time ever

For the first time ever, online shopping has outpaced shopping in physical retail stores.

According to the Commerce Department, nonstore, or online U.S. retail sales, surpassed general sales in February, marking the first time that has ever happened.

{mosads}”The days of the internet and online shopping being ‘just a fad’ have come a long way over the years, but February’s Retail Sales report (released Monday) highlighted another of many major milestones that the growth of online shopping has reached over the years,” said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, according to CNBC.

Online shopping’s percentage of the market has increased from less than 5 percent in the late 1990s to just less than 12 percent in 2019, according to Commerce Department statistics. Motor vehicle and parts retailers remain the biggest piece of the market, accounting for 20.4 percent in February, followed by food and beverage retailers, with 12.4 percent, according to the Commerce Department.

Amazon has been a major reason for the transition, Hickey said in an appearance on CNBC.

“Amazon Prime has been a big driver because people don’t think about shipping anymore — that’s a big contributor,” he said. “We’re seeing an overall a continuation of a trend that’s been going on for years now.”