About 0.5% of All Retail Sales in 1999 Came From Internet

In its first report on e-commerce activity, the Commerce Department found that about 0.5% of all retail sales in 1999 took place on the Internet, and business-to-business deals accounted for more than 90% of the online sales. The report showed that the dollar value of e-commerce activity varied significantly among different sectors, although almost all industry groups were involved to some degree. Twelve percent, or $485 billion, of the value of all manufacturing shipments was sold electronically.