During 2000, U.S. manufacturers sold $777 billion worth of goods online–-the most of any sector of the economy, accounting for 18.4% of the total, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce report released yesterday.
Merchant wholesalers came in second selling $213 billion (7.7%) of goods electronically.
Selected service industries sold $37 billion, 0.8% of the total and the retail trade, which includes direct marketing, accounted for $29 billion (0.9%) of the pie, the report found.
The E-Stats report covers the value of goods and services sold online, whether over open networks such as the Internet or proprietary networks such as the Electronic Data Interchange.
The report does not cover agriculture, mining, construction, utilities nor non-merchant wholesalers and other parts of the service sector.
The Commerce Department began collecting 2000 e-commerce data by mailing out questionnaires early in 2001, said assistant secretary Tom Nesenbourg. The department surveyed approximately 125,000 plants and firms for this annual report.
The e-commerce data, which is part of a much more detailed and complex set of economic statistics the department compiles, was put together at the end of last year. Data for 2001 will begin to be assembled later this spring.
