U.S. online item prices fall for the ninth consecutive month. Which categories are worth paying attention to?

It is learned that recently, Adobe released the latest inflation data for the US online retail market. According to the Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI), in May 2023, US online prices fell by 2.3% year-on-year, the largest drop since the COVID-19 epidemic. At the same time, this is the ninth consecutive month that inflation data has fallen year-on-year.

The year-over-year price decline in May was driven by sharp declines in the discretionary category, including computers, electronics and appliances. Inflation in the essentials category has also slowed in recent months, with groceries and personal care seeing markedly lower price increases.

In May, 11 of the 18 categories tracked by the DPI saw year-on-year price declines, with the flowers/related gifts category experiencing the largest drop of 27.8%.

In May, prices rose month-over-month in seven of the 18 categories tracked by the DPI, including personal care, pet products, groceries, over-the-counter drugs, tools/home improvement, medical equipment/supplies and apparel.

Noteworthy categories in Adobe’s Digital Price Index for May

• Grocery: Prices increased 8.2% year-on-year and 0.3% month-on-month. Prices in this category have been falling over the past eight months. The specific data are as follows: 9.3% year-on-year in April, 10.3% year-on-year in March, 11.4% year-on-year in February, 13.5% year-on-year in December last year, 13.7% year-on-year in November last year, 14% year-on-year in October last year, and 14.3% year-on-year in September last year.

  
  

• Personal care: Prices increased by 2.7% year-on-year and decreased by 0.3% month-on-month. Prices in this category have fallen every month since February 2023 (up 6.1% year-on-year). Inflation persists in this category over the long term, as this category has only experienced a year-on-year decline in one month (down 0.9% year-on-year in November 2021).

  
  

• Household appliances: Prices fell 7.9% year-on-year and 2.4% month-on-month, the largest drop since 2014. This category saw year-on-year declines for eight consecutive months after rising for 29 consecutive months.

  
  

• Home and Garden: Prices fell 6.3% year-over-year and 0.9% month-over-month. Prices in this category are much lower than a year ago, with prices in this category rising 2.5% year-over-year in May 2022.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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