An independent FedEx Corp. contractor unloads packages from a delivery truck on Cyber Monday in New York, USA on Monday, December 2, 2019.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Online merchandise prices have now risen for an unprecedented 15 consecutive months, following what was a historic period of falls, according to a new Adobe Digital Insights report.
Inflation affects categories, including pet products, over-the-counter medications, clothing, furniture and floral arrangements, according to the report.
The growth of industry-wide digital sticker prices is making e-commerce transactions ready to soon represent about $ 1 in $ 5 spent by Americans, compared to $ 1 in $ 6 in 2017, he said. Adobe. Adobe Digital Insights ’economy index tracks more than a trillion visits to U.S. retail outlets and more than 100 million products in 18 categories.
Last month, Adobe found that online prices were up 3.1% year-on-year and up 0.1% from the previous month. From 2015 to 2019, online prices fell by an average of 3.9% annually. Adobe has been tracking its so-called digital economy index since 2014.
Price gains are occurring over a period that typically sees prices fall, Adobe noted in its report. Retailers tend to make strong promotions to eliminate excess merchandise in late summer and to retain customers when they complete their back-to-school purchases. Not this year.
“Categories that once had a smaller presence in e-commerce are now becoming commodities, with unprecedented price trends that no longer slow global inflation,” said Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst Vivek Pandya . “We are entering new territory.”
Given this trend, Adobe predicts that by November 1 this year, Americans will have spent more online than they had posted online throughout 2019.
Consumers have already made more than $ 541 billion on the Internet during the first eight months of 2021. This is a 9% increase over the previous year and a 58% increase over the same period in 2019, according to Adobe.
On Tuesday, the Labor Department said prices for a lot of consumer goods rose less than expected in August, showing that inflation could start to cool. However, this data does not include online pricing.
“The bulk of the recent rise in U.S. inflation has been driven primarily by supply chain bottlenecks and low inventory levels, but higher labor costs are often passed on to consumers and are considered a precursor. of broader inflation, ”Jack Kleinhenz said.