Ecommerce sales in the United States have experienced steady growth in the first four months of the year, according to data from Adobe Analytics. However, the data also shows that consumers are increasingly seeking out cheaper options when shopping online. Categories like personal care, electronics, apparel, home and garden, and furniture and bedding are particularly experiencing this trend, as consumers are trading down to lower-priced products.
Despite the overall increase in online spending, consumers seem to be more cautious and strategic in their purchases. The lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, Vivek Pandya, noted that while consumer demand remains resilient, there is a shift towards more price-sensitive shopping behaviors. Some categories, such as sporting goods, appliances, tools, and home improvement, are showing less price sensitivity, but there is still an increased preference for lower-priced items across the board.
In the time period between January 1 and April 30, consumers spent $331.6 billion online, a 7% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Adobe is forecasting that online spending for the first half of this year will exceed $500 billion, representing a 6.8% year-over-year growth. Pandya highlighted that the growth in 2024 is primarily being driven by categories like grocery, which has seen a 16% increase, while other major categories like electronics, apparel, and furniture are growing at a slower pace of 1 to 3%.
The data suggests that consumers are redirecting their spending towards essential items like grocery, gas, and housing, limiting their ability to freely spend on discretionary goods. This shift is also reflected in the increase in online grocery spending, which Adobe predicts will become one of the dominant ecommerce categories by 2027, alongside electronics and apparel. Even in the grocery category, consumers are price conscious, preferring lower-priced products over items experiencing high inflation.
Cosmetics is another category that has shown strong growth, with an 8% increase in online sales during the period. Adobe is tracking cosmetics performance separately for the first time in this report, noting that in 2023, the category generated $35 billion in online sales, marking a 15.6% increase from the previous year. The data also reveals a trend towards consumers purchasing cheaper goods, with personal care, electronics, apparel, home and garden, and furniture and bedding all showing significant increases in sales of lower-priced items.
Furthermore, the report highlights the growing popularity of buy now, pay later (BNPL) financing for online purchases, which reached $25.9 billion in the period, up 11.8% from the previous year. Adobe estimates that BNPL usage will continue to rise, reaching between $81 billion and $84.8 billion in online spending this year, with an 8% to 13% year-over-year growth. Additionally, mobile shopping continues to trend upwards, with purchases made on mobile devices increasing by 9.8% from January to April. Adobe projects that mobile purchases will account for 52.5% of online spending during the 2024 holiday season, surpassing desktop spending.
