The Coronavirus pandemic fueled explosive growth of ecommerce in the second quarter, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Adjusted retail ecommerce sales in the second quarter of 2020 were $211.5 billion, a Covid‐19 driven increase of 31.8% over the first quarter, and a whopping 44.5% increase from the second quarter of 2019.

Ecommerce retail now represents 16.1% of retail sales in the U.S. The segment grew at a 14.6% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2015 through 2019 and shows no sign of slowing down, observes Armstrong & Associates.

The logistics consulting firm expressed this view in its latest report, “Rising Tide: The Rapid Growth of Ecommerce Logistics, 3PL Solutions, Last-Mile Delivery, and the Dominance of Amazon.”

Growing ecommerce sales also are driving up U.S. ecommerce logistics costs, with a 19.9% CAGR expected through 2020. Armstrong points out that ecommerce logistics costs currently account for 9.9% of total U.S. logistics costs.

Ecommerce is the fastest growing third-party logistics market segment, Armstrong notes. “Retailers are increasingly relying upon Amazon and third‐party logistics providers to help manage omnichannel and ecommerce supply chain operations.”

It adds, “U.S. 3PL ecommerce revenues reached $43.4 billion in 2019, and we expect 28% growth through 2020 as ecommerce purchases continue to expand during the pandemic and companies continue to outsource logistics activities.”

With Amazon’s dominant position, its operations now boast an estimated 60% market share of the U.S. ecommerce 3PL market segment.