Online retail sales in the third quarter reached $23.32 billion - 26.7 percent more than the $17.6 billion sales in 3Q04, on an adjusted basis - the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce reported, writes InternetRetailer. The proportion of online retail sales to total retail sales reached 2.3 percent in the third quarter, compared with 2.0 percent in last year's third quarter.

Total retail sales for the third quarter were estimated at $957.9 billion, compared with $882.8 billion in the year-earlier period - up 8.5 percent (on an adjusted basis) from the year-earlier period.