U.S. Census Bureau

 Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample. All other estimates are from the MRTS sample. GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443), clothing & accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532). (Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)    Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability (coefficient of variation is greater than 30%), poor response quality. (total quantity response rate is less than 50%), or other concerns about the estimate's quality

E-commerce sales are sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sale are negotiated over an Internet, extranet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network, electronic mail, or other online system. Payment may or may not be made online. Estimates are based on data from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey and administrative records. Unless otherwise specified, all estimates are revised based on the 2016 Annual Retail Trade Survey. U.S. Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales