Recent figures from the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce are showing continuing strong growth in online sales despite the USA likely being in the midst of a recession.

The Bureau states online purchases amount to $34.6 billion in the second quarter this year which represents an increase of 9.5% compared to the same period last year.

Offline sales performed poorly by comparison with 2.5% growth - except the story doesn’t end there.

Internet Retailer points out that the gap between between online and offline sales only increases when gas and food purchases are taken out of the picture as these two categories experienced massive price rises over the last 12 months and both categories aren’t often purchased online; particularly fuel.

With food and fuel taken out of the equation, offline retail growth was a measly 0.06% whereas ecommerce sales experienced 11.2% growth in the first half of the year.

Read more of the Internet Retailer analysis

Related:

Beginners guide to ecommerce