The U.S. economy is growing soft, and that generally means harder times ahead for manufacturers and distributors. But if there is one channel that will continue to grow as manufacturers and distributors battle economic headwinds — from still-high inflation and fluctuating supply chains, to labor shortages and reduced spending from skittish business buyers — its digital commerce.

For the first six months of the year, U.S. manufacturing sales grew to $3.253 trillion. That’s up just 1.8% from $3.195 trillion in the first six months of 2022. Distributors fared even worse. For the period of January through June, the combined sales from distributor and wholesalers declined to $3.994 trillion. That’s down 2.6% from $4.103 trillion in the previous year.