Online prices for consumer electronics have declined by 3.2 per cent year-over-year, according to a new report by Adobe Analytics.
Amazon’s Prime Day has become a benchmark for pricing fluctuations and user behaviour, providing a unique prism to observe the complicated dance of supply, demand and modern consumer psychology.
According to Adobe Analytics data, the online pricing of items across all categories declined by 3.2 per cent year-over-year in July, and by 2.1 per cent when compared to June 2023. Cheaper online costs were mostly found in non-essential items such as electronics, toys, clothes and sporting goods, which were discounted during Amazon Prime Day.
Looking at the analysis of the July 2023 data by Adobe Analytics on price fluctuations across product categories, it revealed that compared to the same month in 2022, online grocery prices increased by 6.7 per cent.
This points to a decrease from the preceding annual price rises of 8.1 per cent in June, 9.7 per cent in May and 9.1 per cent in April. The apex of online grocery price inflation was in February when prices were up by 14.2 per cent year-over-year.
On electronics, the prices dropped significantly over the past few months, culminating in July. This decline was partly catalysed by the additional discounts offered during Prime Day, rendering electronics 2.1 per cent cheaper than they were in June. As a result, electronics prices had an 11 per cent drop in July, following a 10 per cent dip in June over the same period last year.
Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, commented on the prevailing shopping patterns. He observed that consumers appear to be capitalising on mid-year discounts and shopping events like Amazon Prime Day.
According to Pandya, online price inflation for essential items appears to be tapering off. Meanwhile, prices for items that are not essential such as technology, toys and apparel are lower than in the same period last year, encouraging spending in these categories.
In a parallel development, the use of Buy Now Pay Later continues to rise. The report revealed that UK consumers spent £2.85 billion in June and July. UK consumers continued to use Buy Now Pay Later services to manage their expenses.
Buy Now Pay Later transactions constituted 15.35 per cent of all monthly online spending, with £8.8 billion spent on these services so far this year. Pandya said Buy Now Pay Later usage has spiked in the initial half of the year, indicating its role in facilitating budget-conscious shopping.
Going further to social media’s impact on e-commerce between January 2022 and May 2023, Adobe Analytics discovered a tremendous 378 per cent increase in e-commerce visits from TikTok content. While TikTok’s overall contribution remains modest, accounting for less than five per cent of visits, its traffic share has increased by 17 per cent since May.
