AtlasA parcel's journey
An illustrative parcel, built from public data, not a real shipment. It follows the chain behind one online order: where goods like it come from, the ocean crossing, the Port of Los Angeles, the warehouse shelf and the last mile. Every number is a published figure with its period. Public data, not my business.
On wide screens this section is an animated, scroll-driven sequence: a lit globe follows the parcel's lane across the Pacific, a container yard and crane at the Port of Los Angeles, a warehouse rack, a dot map of ZIP codes and a doorstep. The animation is decoration; every stage and number is in the text below.
Stage 1Order
Someone in Los Angeles buys something online. In 2026 Q2, e-commerce was 17.1% of all US retail sales, seasonally adjusted: $340.2 billion of $1,986.5 billion. The quarter is preliminary and Census may revise it.
Source: US Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales · release of August 18, 2026 · public domain. Public data, not my business.
Stage 2Origin
In the 12 months to Aug 2026, $250.5B of goods came in through the Port of Los Angeles. China supplied 25.58% of that value, then Vietnam 20.62% and Japan 12.85%.
Of the six product groups tracked here, the largest was electronics (HS 85) at $52.56B, then apparel at $19.56B.
Source: US Census Bureau, port-level imports, Port of Los Angeles (2704) · 12 months to Aug 2026 · public domain. Country of origin, not where goods are used. Public data, not my business.
Stage 3Port
The crossing happens while supply chains are under more pressure than usual: the New York Fed's Global Supply Chain Pressure Index was +1.28 in September 2026, measured in standard deviations from its average.
At the port, August 2026 brought 955,907 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), 500,302 of them loaded imports, 0.26% below the same month a year earlier.
Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, GSCPI, October 2026 release, © 2026 Federal Reserve Bank of New York, content subject to the Terms of Use at newyorkfed.org; Port of Los Angeles, container statistics, credit the Port of Los Angeles. Public data, not my business.
Stage 4Warehouse
In July 2026, US retailers held inventories worth 1.27 months of sales, seasonally adjusted (preliminary). The ratio averaged 1.47 from 2015 to 2019 and hit a low of 1.09 in June 2021.
Source: US Census Bureau, Retailers: Inventories to Sales Ratio (RETAILIRSA), via FRED · public domain, citation requested. All retail, motor vehicle dealers included, not e-commerce only. Public data, not my business.
Stage 5Last mile
The City of Los Angeles lists 1,473 active online and mail-order retail registrations inside the city, as of its September 15, 2026 update. ZIP 90025 has the most, 38. Each dot on the map is a ZIP code sized by its count; the route is illustrative.
Source: City of Los Angeles Open Data, Listing of Active Businesses (NAICS 454111, 454112, 454113) · CC0; ZIP points from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer. Registrations, not sales. Public data, not my business.
Stage 6Doorstep
An order, a factory abroad, a ship, a port, a shelf and a delivery route, each with a public number behind it.
Reading a chain like this, end to end, is the work I want to do next.
Open the dashboard Read the e-commerce case
01Explore the data
The Atlas puts the six hubs, online shopping by country, Port of Los Angeles container volume and supply chain pressure on one globe, each with its source and period.
02Contact
Open to e-commerce, data and operations roles. Los Angeles or remote.