Price trends in e-commerce - statistics & facts
Inflation days are over, for now. To consumers’ relief, the first half of 2024 started with the long-awaited easing of global inflation and retail prices seem to have stabilized. Online prices usually align with the general trend observed in the retail industry, as the impact of inflation in e-commerce has shown over the past years. However, the final price consumers pay when purchasing products online depends on supply and logistics factors, specific marketing strategies, and seasonal trends which make online pricing rather complex.
Higher competitiveness together with sales events and personalized promotions are changing price trend dynamics in e-commerce. Shoppers dealing with higher prices will surely reduce the value of their shopping carts and purchase less often, so that price trends directly affect other key metrics like average order value or order frequency online vendors monitor closely.
Online prices drop
In Germany, online prices have declined compared to 2023, with an average drop of 3.2 percent in the first eight months of 2024. In August 2024, 15 out of the 18 merchandise categories tracked in the U.S. e-commerce registered a negative trend, too. In the United States, the inflation rate of grocery products slowed down after the index explosion in 2022 but unlike other product categories, grocery prices are very unlikely to go down again. Prices of consumer electronics and computers also deflated, signaling that the chip shortage crisis of 2023 has faded in 2024, even though the thriving refurbished market might have played a role in the consumer electronics segment.Online vs. in store
The myth of prices being lower online than in store might be just a myth. A study carried out in France among seven different grocery retailers showed that only two of them ensured lower prices in drive-through services, compared to the in-store equivalent. In Italy, the average prices of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sold online were always slightly higher than the ones available in the brick-and-mortar market.Higher competitiveness together with sales events and personalized promotions are changing price trend dynamics in e-commerce. Shoppers dealing with higher prices will surely reduce the value of their shopping carts and purchase less often, so that price trends directly affect other key metrics like average order value or order frequency online vendors monitor closely.
