Report: Online Prices Reach 40-Month Low in August

Article From：SGB Media

 

 

U.S. online prices in August 2023 fell 3.2 percent year-over-year (YoY), reaching their lowest in 40 months, including a steep drop in sporting goods, down 7 percent YoY, according to the latest data from the Adobe Digital Price Index* (DPI). This made August 2023 the 12th consecutive month of overall YoY price decreases.

 

Online prices fell for over half of Adobe’s tracked categories (11 of 18) on an annual basis. On a month-over-month (MoM) basis, online prices rose 0.4 percent in August following the Prime Day event in July, now an industrywide e-commerce moment with heavy discounting across different retailers.

 

August’s YoY price decline was driven by notable drops in categories such as sporting goods (down 7 percent YoY, down 1.4 percent MoM), appliances (down 7.3 percent YoY, up 1.3 percent MoM) and home/garden (down 6.8 percent YoY, up 0.2 percent MoM). Electronics saw a steeper decline, falling 11.6 percent YoY (down 0.8 percent MoM), as well as computers which fell 14.2 percent YoY (down 1 percent MoM).

 

Although inflation continues to impact grocery prices, YoY increases have now slowed for 11 consecutive months; Online prices were up 5 percent YoY in August, a smaller jump compared with July 2023’s 6.3 percent YoY and June 2023’s 7.6 percent YoY increases. Grocery prices were down 0.2 percent MoM, the first monthly decrease in this category since May 2021, a positive sign after 27 consecutive months. Price increases have slowed for pet products as well: prices were up 5.5 percent YoY (up 0.1 percent MoM), compared with a 6.3 percent YoY increase in July 2023, and an even more substantial 8.1 percent YoY increase in June 2023.

 

Notable categories in the Adobe Digital Price Index for August

Adobe’s Digital Price Index provides the most comprehensive view into how much consumers pay for goods online, complementing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, which captures offline prices. Powered by Adobe Analytics, the DPI analyzes one trillion visits to retail sites and over 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories: electronics, apparel, appliances, books, toys, computers, groceries, furniture/bedding, tools/home improvement, home/garden, pet products, jewelry, medical equipment/supplies, sporting goods, personal care products, flowers/related gifts, non-prescription drugs and office supplies.

 

In August, 11 of the DPI’s 18 categories saw YoY price decreases, with the flowers/related gifts category falling the most at 31.4 percent YoY. Seven categories experienced YoY price increases, including personal care, pet products, grocery, non-prescription drugs, tools/home improvement, medical equipment/supplies and apparel.

 

On a MoM basis, six of the 18 categories in the DPI saw prices fall. Price increases were observed in 12 categories including personal care products, jewelry, books, furniture/bedding, toys, home/garden, pet products, non-prescription drugs, tools/home improvement, appliances, medical equipment/supplies and apparel.

 

Notable categories for August 2023 include:

 

Groceries: Prices rose 5 percent YoY (down 0.2 percent MoM) but have slowed every month for the past 11 months, having reached a peak in September 2022 when prices increased by 14.3 percent YoY. Consumers are increasingly buying more of their groceries online, and this category has generally moved in lock step with the Consumer Price Index.

Pet Products: Prices were up 5.5 percent YoY (up 0.1 percent MoM), similarly reflecting slowing price increases since August 2022, when price growth peaked at 12.7 percent YoY. This category has seen persistent inflation on a long-term basis, however, with YoY price increases observed in every month since May 2020.

Appliances: Prices were down 7.3 percent YoY (up 1.3 percent MoM) after hitting a record low in June 2023, where prices fell 8.3 percent YoY. Appliance prices online have now fallen YoY for 11 consecutive months, contrasting with 29 consecutive months of increases that started in May 2020, peaking at 7.1 percent YoY in December 2020.

Electronics: Prices have continued to fall sharply in recent months, dropping 11.6 percent YoY (down 0.8 percent MoM), 11.7 percent YoY in July 2023 and 12.9 percent YoY in June 2023. As a major discretionary category, electronics price movements have a significant impact on overall inflation online.

*Adobe’s DPI is modeled after the Consumer Price Index (CPI), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and uses the Fisher Price Index to track online prices. The DPI analyzes one trillion visits to retail sites and more than 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories, including electronics, apparel, appliances, books, toys, computers, groceries, furniture and bedding, tools and home improvement, home and garden, pet products, jewelry, medical equipment and supplies, sporting goods, personal care products, flowers and related gifts, non-prescription drugs, and office supplies.