Inflation cost American shoppers a whopping $6.2 billion over the holidays, as retailers hiked prices on everything from clothing to groceries and appliances amid soaring demand and persistent supply-chain bottlenecks.
The stunning dollar figure comes from Adobe Analytics, which said on Wednesday that US consumers spent a record-breaking $204.5 billion online during the holidays — up 8.6% from the 2020 season after spiking 32% the year before that, according to new data.
Put another way, online spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 would not have crossed the $200 billion threshold if it weren’t for soaring prices, according to the firm, which tracks online spending at millions of retail websites.
Online prices increased by 3.1% in December compared to a year ago, according to the report.
“Prior to the pandemic we didn’t have online inflation,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights told The Post. “Instead, we had deflation where prices would come down about 4% each year.”
Among the 18 categories of merchandise Adobe tracks, online apparel prices spiked the most — up 16.6% in December compared to a year ago. Grocery prices were up 4.9% – the highest jump since their recent peak in October 2020 when they were up 5.2%.
Online prices for appliances jumped 4.1% in December and home improvement prices were up 7.1% from a year ago.
“There were no massive discounts, so by the time consumers got closer to Christmas, they realized they had to make their purchases because the discounts weren’t happening,” Pandya said.
Just five categories of the 18 experienced slight price decreases, including toys, pet products and home-and-garden items.
Until inventories and supplies reach more normal levels, and retailers begin competing on price again, inflation will march on, he added.
“There is simply less pricing flexibility right now,” Pandya said.
Out-of-stock messages were up 10% from a year ago to 6 billion and up 253% from 2019. That will likely continue amid the Omicron surge as consumers cut spending on services including travel and entertainment and shift their focus to merchandise, according to Pandya.
Despite higher prices, as well as limited selection due to low supplies of certain items, consumers showed little hesitancy to open their wallets wide.
A record 38 days from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 surpassed $3 billion in daily online spending compared with 20 days in 2020, according to Adobe.
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