President of Mastercard North America: “Almost three quarters of all apparel purchases were made online in February, and this is up from 47% just a year ago.”

Apparel sales in the U.S. bounced back in a big way last month, powered by a surge in online purchases as consumers altered their spending habits, Linda Kirkpatrick, president of Mastercard North America, told CNBC.

“We’ve definitely seen a shift in the way consumers are spending throughout the pandemic,” Kirkpatrick said. “Almost three-quarters of all apparel purchases were made online in February, and this is up from 47% just a year ago.”

Apparel sales overall declined 5.3% during the month, but e-commerce spending didn’t miss a beat. Online clothing sales spiked 47% year over year, according to data from Mastercard Economics Institute.

February, the month of Valentine’s Day, also saw overall spending on jewelry rise almost 6% from the year prior. Meanwhile, online jewelry sales jumped 63%, the company said.

E-commerce sales in February surged 54.7% when compared with the same month last year, the company found. While the shift to digital was in the making for years, that adoption accelerated in 2020, two years ahead of schedule, the company said.

“What we’re seeing right now is consumers are embracing digital payments more rapidly than ever before,” she said. “Consumers, you know, they’ve really built a digital commerce muscle that we believe is here to stay.”