The following article was copied and pasted from my Epoch Times electronic subscription to display their reporting and concern for truth and facts; and to provide a perspective not possible via big media and social media, as they only publish the leftist state approved narrative devoid of facts:
Online Retail Gets More Expensive, Weak Discounts For Holidays: Adobe Survey
E-commerce has gotten more expensive due to the inflationary environment, according to a recent report from Adobe, and it’s significant during the holiday season when retailers normally push big-discount deals.
Online prices rose 1.9 percent in October from a year earlier and 0.9 percent from the previous month based on data from Adobe Inc. The latest numbers mark the 17th straight month of price increases after six years of declines in the Adobe Digital Price Index.
“Consumers are now seeing a double hit to their pocketbooks, with everyday expenses like rent and gas rising, while the big holiday shopping season is going to get more expensive,” says Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, in the report.
Although prices remain high, Adobe expects e-commerce to account for at least 25 percent of the overall holiday sales. Shoppers headed to the market early by almost a month this year, mainly due to supply chain constraints that many fear might lead to products going out of stock. In October, shoppers saw over two billion out-of-stock messages online.
Consumers spent more than $72 billion last month, eight percent more than 2020 according to data from the software company. Despite high prices, online shopping remains the cheaper option as offline retailers push up prices to record highs based on the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose by 6.2 percent YoY in Oct. 2021.
When looking at individual categories, discount levels for electronics are at 8.7 percent compared to last year’s 13.2 percent. Sporting goods prices are down by 2.8 percent (11.2 percent in 2020). Appliances are offered at a discount of 4.6 percent (10.2 percent).
Computers and toys fare much better with 12.4 and 15.9 discounts (11.9 and 7.5 percent decrease same time last year). However, home improvement and tools went up in price by 1.2 percent. In 2020, it was offered at a 6.8 percent discount.
“After 17 consecutive months of online inflation, we are entering a new normal in the digital economy. As e-commerce takes on a greater share of overall retail, the pricing trends have become a more important indicator of net impact to consumers,” said Pandya.
Almost one trillion retail site visits and over 100 million products were analyzed by Adobe. Altogether the Adobe Digital Price Index tracks 18 product categories, out of which, only books reduced in prices when indexed to a historical average (2015 to 2019).
Cost of purchasing electronic goods was down by 0.60 YoY in October, but the category is typically down 9.06 percent on average each year from 2015 to 2019.
Due to overseas manufacturing disruptions and supply chain issues, apparel prices have gone up 9.81 percent YoY in October. Toys were down by 2.71 percent, but lower than the historical average discount of 5.54 percent each year. Deals have gotten smaller and weaker with the trend likely to persist.
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