Some data in Adobe Analytics’ April ecommerce report has revealed a huge spike in online shopping, with record-breaking sales logged for retail and buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) orders, as per Adweek news.
According to the report, online pajama sales rose more than 143%, online grocery shopping is up 110%, and online alcohol sales surged 74%.
Apparel retailers, struggling in the face of forced store closures across the country due to Covid-19, have been using Black Friday-level discounts to encourage online shopping, according to Adobe. And while consumers can generally expect discounts around May and June as retailers swap out seasonal products, the sales came early this year.
Online retail prices in April were 12% lower than they were in March – a drop that’s usually only about 2.9%. Helped by price cuts, online apparel retailers saw a 34% year-over-year sales increase in April.
Shelter-in-place orders have also increased consumers’ reliance on online shopping, while disruptions to shipping have pushed them to seek products at stores closer to home over the last couple months.
Another notable shift is how grocery prices have jumped, something that’s generally relatively stable, as more consumers switch to online shopping for groceries. But, according to Adobe’s data, it’s not the rising price of staples like eggs and meat that are responsible for the uptick. Instead, it’s shelf-stable processed foods that are getting more expensive due to increased consumer demand.
The data also showed a 74% spike in alcohol sales between March 11 and April 21, and significant jumps in online sales of grocery items, electronics and books.
Those shifts mean that consumers, retailers and policymakers all need to re-evaluate the trends that they were previously relying on, said Taylor Schreiner, the Adobe Digital Insights director.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now