Online shopping is officially king, signaling a tipping point in the retail apocalypse

According to the Bespoke Investment Group, this is the culmination of a trend that's been building up for years .
For companies attempting to survive the retail apocalypse , it's a stark reminder of the importance of digital sales.

This won't come as much of a surprise to anyone who's come to rely on Amazon Prime , but online shopping is here to stay.

The Bespoke Investment Group pointed out that in February, non-store retail dubbed "clicks" made up 11.813% of total US sales. Meanwhile, general merchandise or "bricks" accounted for 11.807% of total sales. This was the first time on record that online sales beat out brick-and-mortar sales, according to the firm.

It's not a major difference, as the Bespoke Investment Group pointed out in its April 2 analysis: "Sure, we had to go out to three decimal places, so the margin of different is extremely small."

Still, the group also posted a chart demonstrating how much the share of retail sales has changed since 1992. Non-store "clicks" purchases have risen steadily since the 1990s, while general merchandise "bricks" sales have fallen since peaking around 2009.

This trend may represent a turning point in the ongoing retail apocalypse , which threatens to devastate any retailers who fail to adapt to the changing shopping environment.

In February, US retail sales declined 0.2%, signaling an economic slowdown . But the good news continues to roll in for non-store retailers like online giant Amazon. According to the US Department of Commerce , that sector experienced a sales growth of 0.9% for the month and 10% for the year.

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