Despite slumping numbers in the third quarter, e-commerce growth is continuing to keep demand for industrial space high, according to new research from CommercialEdge.

E-commerce accounted for 16% of core retail sales in Q3, down from a peak of 19.4% in the second quarter of 2020 but a number that's still above pre-pandemic levels. Prior to COVID-19, the Census Bureau typically reported quarterly e-commerce growth in the neighborhood of between 2 and 6% and year-over-year growth came in at between 10 and 20%. But "COVID-19 upended this trend in a dramatic way—in the second quarter of last year, e-commerce sales jumped 31.9% on the quarter and 43.8% year-over-year," the report notes. "Following that spike, e-commerce sales fell for the first time ever, and three of the five most recent quarters have seen declines."

But despite that, online sales are still "well above" pre-pandemic levels, CommercialEdge analysts note.