Inflation is high, but US e-commerce is growing instead of decreasing! Who is buying?

The United States has seen the highest inflation level in 40 years, and consumer confidence has generally declined. According to the latest DigitalRiver survey, only 39% of Americans said that their current financial situation is good. 45% of Americans said that their financial situation has become worse than a year ago, and only 24% believe that it has improved.

However, Forrester predicts that the US e-commerce market will continue to grow over the next five years. Forrester predicts that US online sales will grow at an annual rate of 10% over the next five years and will account for 30% of the market by 2027. By 2027, offline retail sales will account for 70% of total retail sales.

But in the short term, U.S. online retailers still face several challenges, including consumers holding back on discretionary spending due to inflation and the need to clear excess inventory that could hurt profitability.

Nearly half of consumers shop online at least once a week

DigitalRiver data shows that more than 42% of Americans say they shop online at least once a week. Specifically, 20% say they usually shop online once a week, 19% shop online every two to three weeks, and 18% shop online once a month.

Most online shoppers use debit cards (63%) to pay for products and services, with more than half (51%) using credit cards and 12% using buy now, pay later (BNPL) for online shopping.

For those who use buy now, pay later (BNPL), 67% said they do so to stretch their budget further, while half (48%) use it for high-value purchases.

BNPL is used more frequently in online shopping in the past 6 months

Of those who use BNPL, nearly 64% said they use this payment method more often when shopping online. 51% said it was because it was convenient, followed by tight finances (48%), increased product costs (44%) and purchasing specific products (38%).

In the past six months, 39% of people shopped online more frequently

39% of U.S. consumers said they shopped more online in the past six months, while only 17% shopped more offline.

42% of U.S. online shoppers buy entertainment products/services online more frequently, followed by technology and electronics (34%), clothing, shoes and fashion (28%) and lifestyle or hobby items (26%).

30% of Americans expect to shop online more frequently

30% of Americans said they expect to shop online more frequently in the future, while 14% said they would shop more offline. 52% said there would be no change.

Price is the main factor that determines whether Americans shop online, with nearly 57% saying that overall, lower prices would make them more likely to shop online. 48% would shop online more frequently if there were more discounts, 34% would shop more frequently if delivery times were faster, and 26% would shop more frequently if there were more product selections.

Americans expect to cut back on certain spending

38% expect to spend less this Christmas, while 32% expect to spend the same as usual. 40% of people are planning to spend less on their holiday this summer.

67% said they had cut back on spending on non-essential items in the past six months, followed by reduced spending on travel (49%), essentials (35%) and utilities (26%).

Editor✎ Ashley/

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