Online prices rose 2.7% year-over-year in January, according to the Adobe Digital Price index.
Online prices rose again in January, with the grocery category ringing up a record breaking 5.8% year-over-year increase, according to data from the latest Adobe Digital Price index, released today.
Overall, online prices rose 2.7% year-over-year in January, making it the 20th consecutive month of e-commerce inflation, Adobe reported. Prices were up 1.1% compared to the previous month.
The January increase, however, wasn’t as big as the record yearly gains seen during the holiday season, when prices rose 3.5% year-over-year in November and 3.1% year-over-year in December.
“While price drops in categories like electronics and apparel have brought online inflation down slightly from the record high last November, consumers are still contending with elevated prices in the digital economy, “ Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing and insights at Adobe, said in releasing the report. E-commerce inflation, Brown said, “is particularly notable in a category like groceries, where online prices continue to hit new records, while consumer demand for online grocery shopping remains heightened.”
The Digital Price Index tracks 18 product categories. Five of the 18 categories had year-over-year price drops in January – electronics, jewelry, books, toys, and computers – while the other categories showed price increases.
Apparel prices rose by 15.75% year-over-year, but were down 1.74% from December. That decline from December helped lower the overall number for January, due to the high volume of apparel sales online, Adobe said.
Apparel prices saw particularly big increases during the holiday season. Year-over-year-prices were up 17.3% in November and 16.6% in December.
Online grocery prices have risen for 24 consecutive months. The January increase of 5.8% exceeded the previous high for that category, a 5.2% year-over-year increase in October, 2020.
The medical equipment and supplies category also saw its highest recorded increase during January, driven by demand for Covid-19 testing kits, Adobe reported. The category rose 8.2% year-over-year.
Electronics prices were down 3.4% compared to January, 2021. Adobe attributed that drop with holding down overall inflation for the month. “As one of the major categories in e-commerce, the price fluctuations have had a greater impact on topline inflation,” Adobe reported.
Toy prices were down 5.96% compared to the previous January, but were up 3.1% compared to December, 2021, when holiday discounting kept prices down.
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