Washington, Dec 28 (IANS): US e-commerce sales expanded at a much slower pace in the holiday season of 2021, according to a report issued by Mastercard Inc.

US e-commerce sales from November 1 to December 24 grew 11 per cent from the same period of 2020 in comparison with a hefty year-on-year increase of 47.2 per cent in the holiday season of 2020, Xinhua news agency quoted the Mastercard SpendingPulse report as saying.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in robust expansion of online sales in the US, but the breakneck growth has slowed down due to economic reopening and fading growth momentum.

E-commerce sales made up 20.9 per cent of total retail sales in the holiday season of 2021, slightly higher from 20.6 per cent in 2020.

By contrast, e-commerce only accounted for 14.6 per cent of total retail sales in the holiday season of 2019.

The US reported $214.6 billion of e-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2021, up 6.6 per cent year on year, much lower than 36.1 per cent of year-on-year expansion in the same period of 2020, according to adjusted statistics issued by the Department of Commerce on November 18.

The share of e-commerce in total retail sales even declined gradually from 13.8 per cent in Q3 of 2020 to 13 per cent in Q3 of 2021, according to the Department of Commerce.

However, e-commerce sales in the holiday season of 2021 still posted a higher growth rate than 8.1 per cent expansion of in-store retail sales, according to the Mastercard report.

The e-commerce channel continues to experience elevated growth as consumers enjoy the ease of holiday browsing and buying in the comfort of their own homes, said the report by Mastercard.