Washington, D.C. - April sales for electronics and appliance retailers edged up 0.9 percent year-over-year to $8.4 billion according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Commerce Department.

However, the April sales tally was down 2.2 percent from the prior month.

In contrast, total retail sales increased 7.9 percent in April over the year-ago period, and e-commerce and other direct sales rose 15.5 percent.

The sales estimates were adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes, the Commerce Department said.