Online Inflation Remains Elevated

Grocery prices continued to surge and rose 9.0 percent YoY (up 1.4 percent MoM), a new record. Prices for everyday staples including pet products increased 7.0 percent YoY (up 1.5 percent MoM), and personal care items increased 1.4 percent YoY (up 0.1 percent MoM). Despite higher prices and supply chain challenges that drove 3.1 billion out-of-stock messages in March, demand for e-commerce remained strong. Consumers spent $83.1 billion (up 7 percent YoY), a significant increase from $67 billion in February, as the digital economy continued to shift to more personalized customer experiences.

The DPI provides a comprehensive view into how much consumers pay for goods online. Powered by Adobe Analytics, it analyzes one trillion visits to retail sites and over 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories: electronics, apparel, appliances, books, toys, computers, groceries, furniture/bedding, tools/home improvement, home/garden, pet products, jewelry, medical equipment/supplies, sporting goods, personal care products, flowers/related gifts, non-prescription drugs, and office supplies.

Over the past 12 months, apparel has consistently outpaced the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which captures prices that consumers pay for goods offline. In February, apparel prices rose 11.0 percent in the DPI, compared to 3.1 percent in the CPI (indexed to 2014). Non-prescription drugs followed a similar trend, with the DPI up 7.9 percent and the CPI down 1.2 percent in February. For everyday staples like groceries and pet products, online prices now move in tandem with the CPI.