The latest quarterly e-commerce sales report from the US Department of Commerce shows that online sales are besting offline when it comes to growth rates.
American consumers purchased goods worth $291.6 billion through e-commerce retailers in the second quarter of 2024, up 1.3% from the first three months of the year, and up 6.7% from the same period in 2023. That’s 6.7% year-over-year growth, much higher than overall retail sales growth of 2.1%.
The share prices of companies like Amazon (up 20% this year) and the lawsuits between online retailers Shein and Temu are evidence of that rise, as well as the ballooning costs of air cargo from China.
But another indicator, and result, of the continued success of e-commerce? It’s a long-awaited relaunch of corrugated box shipments across the US, according to the Fiber Box Association (FBA), a trade association that has represented the industry since 1940.
Cardboard box shipments rose 3.2% from the first to second quarter of the year, FBA data showed, with more than 96 billion square feet of cardboard delivered. The carton market is seasonal, points out Rachel Kenyon, senior vice president at FBA—and grows year-round through the fall—but the broader economy, fueled by S&P 500 performance supported by Big Tech, and e-commerce, has played its part. contribute to the strengthening of box sales.
“A lot of it has to do with how the economy is going,” Kenyon said. “It’s not all about e-commerce, but e-commerce has definitely helped.”
Kenyon points out that it’s impossible to draw a connection between e-commerce sales and the growth of cardboard box shipments because e-commerce is often a substitute, rather than an addition: You buy your dining room table from an online retailer, instead. than a store, but it comes in a box to your home no matter how it is purchased.
Such a link would have been possible at the beginning of the pandemic, as brick and mortar stores were closed but people still needed things. “During the time of COVID, because no one had anywhere to go, you saw a lot of boxes arrive at your house,” Kenyon explained. “If you look at the top line for volume shipments, you’ll see there’s been an uptick.”
That link has since been broken as many of us return to physical stores. But online or offline, the retail industry is keeping cardboard boxes in business. Whether you’re buying something from Amazon or a Home Depot store, it’s likely to arrive in a cardboard box.
Source link
