Digital shopping channels are undeniably a growing trend among bargain hunters, special occasion shoppers and even shoppers looking for everyday merchandise. The web has become a powerful resource for fast browsing and convenient purchasing, and as a result, ecommerce merchants continue to generate the most sales. According to an analysis of 100 web-only merchants, 59 retail chains, 27 catalog and call centers and 14 consumer brand manufacturers for the forthcoming 2012 Top 500 Guide, ecommerce merchants make up the fastest growing Top 500 merchant category, so far.

These web-only merchants have seen a collective sales increase year-over-year of 35.6 percent, from $46.55 billion in 2010 to $63.11 billion in 2011. While the results include Amazon.com, whose sales grew nearly 41 percent last year, ecommerce merchants still saw recognizable growth. Without Amazon, the remaining online-only retailers grew year-over-year 21.7 percent. Store based retailers even found better success through their associated online business, as seen in the combined web sales of chain retailers, growing about 14.4 percent year-over-year.

This story is adapted from an article on InternetRetailer.com.