Most of these eight retailers have one thing in common: They capitalized on pandemic-induced spending on home improvement, online grocery, and pet care while offering consumers convenient fulfillment options, great prices, or both. Three of the top 15 retailers will post ecommerce sales growth of at least 25.0%, with Amazon coming in just under, at 24.9%.

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Sales in Q1 rose faster than expected thanks to government stimulus checks that stoked spending in nonfood categories, including recreation, home improvement, and apparel. What’s more, the company remains upbeat about Q2 and expects stimulus spending and overall economic recovery to continue to benefit general merchandise categories. 

The big-box retailers came in just behind the home improvement retailers, followed by department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom, which saw the least dramatic transitions to click and collect.

“Other”—driven by increased demand for home improvement products—grew 58.0%, compared with our pre-pandemic estimate of 18.7%. (Note: We did not forecast Amazon’s sales by category for 2021 before the pandemic.).

Our latest forecast shows that Amazon, Walmart, and eBay will remain the top three largest ecommerce companies in the US by total sales volume, while Best Buy and Target will usurp The Home Depot and Wayfair for the No. 5 and No. 6 spots on the 2021 list, respectively.

According to Rakuten Intelligence, the top-gaining ecommerce category this past season was home improvement, which grew 43.9% vs. a year ago. Consumer electronics/major appliances jumped 17.7% to rank among the leaders, on the strength of smartphones, wearables and smart-home electronics, while apparel/footwear grew by single digits (8.4%)—several points below the ecommerce channel overall.