How inflation hits online prices from clothes to furniture

Online product prices have now risen for an unprecedented 15 consecutive months, following a historic period of decline, according to a new report from Adobe Digital Insights.

Inflation is hitting categories such as pet products, over-the-counter drugs, clothing, furniture and flower arrangements, according to the report.

The growth in digital sticker prices in the industry means that e-commerce transactions are expected to soon account for around $ 1 in $ 5 spent by Americans, up from $ 1 in $ 6 in 2017, Adobe said. The Adobe Digital Insights Economic Index lists more than 1,000 billion visits to US retail sites and more than 100 million products in 18 categories.

Adobe last month found that online prices were up 3.1% year-over-year and 0.1% from the previous month. From 2015 to 2019, online prices fell an average of 3.9% per year. Adobe has been tracking its Digital Economy Index since 2014.

The price gains occur during a period that normally sees prices fall, Adobe noted in its report. Retailers tend to use big promotions to wipe out excess merchandise at the end of the summer and build customer loyalty as they finish back-to-school shopping. Not this year.

“Categories that once had a minor presence in e-commerce are now becoming commodities, with unprecedented price trends no longer holding back headline inflation,” said Vivek Pandya, chief analyst at Adobe Digital Insights . “We are entering new territory.”

Given this trend, Adobe predicts that, by November 1 of this year, Americans will have spent more online than they’ve been on the web in the course of 2019.

Consumers have already completed more than $ 541 billion in Internet transactions in the first eight months of 2021. This is an increase of 9% from the previous year and 58% from the same period in 2019, according to Adobe.

On Tuesday, the Labor Department said prices for a range of consumer goods rose less than expected in August, a sign that inflation may start to cool. However, this data does not include online prices.

“Much of the recent upturn in inflation in the United States has been primarily due to supply chain bottlenecks and low inventory levels, but higher labor costs are often passed on to consumers and are seen as a precursor to broader inflation, ”said Jack, chief economist for the National Retail Federation. Kleinhenz said.