As consumers turn away from brick-and-mortar stores in favor of online outlets, electric commerce-related internet exchange traded funds have outperformed the traditional retail sector.
The internet retail sub-industry revealed the highest earnings growth at 143.1% for all 13 retail sub-industries, John Butters, Senior Earnings Analyst at FactSet, said in a note.
In contrast, the department store sub-industry reported the largest year-over-year drop in earnings of all 13 retail sub-industries at -47.8%.
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Market analysts argued that department stores have experienced declining revenue on lower foot traffic as online stores like Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN), which recently made an aggressive push into apparel and fashion, have started to take significant market share from traditional brick-and-mortar stores, reports Susaznne Kapner for the Wall Street Journal.
Morgan Stanley analysts calculated that Amazon, which currently makes up 7% of the overall U .S. apparel market, could account for 19% by 2020.
[related_stories]Investors can also tap into the growing trend of online commerce through internet-related ETFs, such as the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (NasdaqGS: PNQI) and First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSEArca: FDN).