Q3 was humongous for ecommerce. And it’s all user growth.

We expect strong ecommerce growth for a long time to come (it’s one of the principal reasons we started Parrut). So we were weren’t shocked by headlines of the comScore Q3 report, but a few things did catch our eye.

The 13% year-over-year increase for Q3 makes four quarters in a row of double digit increases in the US. The last time we saw four quarters in a row with 10%+ growth was the run ending with Q2 2008. 

It’s a pretty remarkable statistic when you consider the economic backdrop for that period vs. today’s environment. ‘07 and ‘08 were, of course, the end of an extraordinary run up in economic growth, stock market gains, and discretionary consumer spending. 

But the last three years have been pure sludge. Consumers have been hanging on to their dough, and unemployment has been stuck at 9-10%. (Sure, consumer spending had quietly ticked up for nearly two years straight until the June surprise, but that doesn’t seem like enough of an offset to the unemployment issues, stagnant wages, and general uncertainty.)

So what did it then? Turns out its all user growth.

comScore cites a 22% year-over-year increase in the number of online buyers, noting that nearly 75% of the all Internet users are now buying something every quarter.

Wow.