E-Commerce Growth Continues

Online retail sales grew by 3.6 percent over the third quarter, more than double the growth of brick-and-mortar sales.

Online retail sales grew by 3.6 percent to $34.7 billion over the third quarter, more than double the quarter-to-quarter growth of brick-and-mortar sales, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

In the past year, e-commerce sales have increased by 19.3 percent, compared to just 3.8 for total retail sales, the report said.

According to the National Retail Federation, stores have struggled with bad weather and rising gas prices in recent months, prompting a late start to the holiday shopping season. In October, total retail sales grew by just 0.2 percent from the previous month.