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That the pandemic is driving increased levels of shopping to the web is no secret. But while COVID-19 may have funneled massive levels of traffic to online stores, new data from Adobe adds reason to believe such behavior will not go away with lockdowns. Add the ripple effect of Amazon Prime Day to the mix, and e-commerce can be set to explode.
But Adobe’s Digital Economy Index also tells another story. The report, released Wednesday, may point to Amazon’s success with toys and electronics, but that magic touch still hasn’t extended to fashion.
Popular products during the previous Prime Day, which was held in October last year, included books, gadgets and home appliances, which jumped 112 percent, 77 percent and 52 percent, respectively.
Slow people? Clothing, 11 percent, and jewelry, 10 percent.
“Because there are a lot of department stores and clothing stores that are still closed or partially open, you want online clothing to perform at a higher level, from a very high level,” Vivek Pandya, senior manager at Adobe Digital Insights, explained to WWD. “So it’s increasing, but it’s a more moderate increase compared to things like electronics and the other categories we profiled.”
He believes at least part of the reason is that fashion, which tends to discount more seasonally to make room for new collections, doesn’t always follow the same price or time-cutting methodology as toys, games and other items. .
But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Amazon wasn’t able to increase sales of clothing during the year, which effectively freezes, shuts down or stifles most retail competition.
As for beauty, another priority for Amazon, the company fared much better. According to Adobe Analytics, beauty products saw an increase of 62 percent during Prime Day 2020, and April has just marked a period of strong growth, with a 233 percent increase over early February figures.
Of course, this is part of an empire that does great business in general, and especially during Prime Day, across multiple categories.
During its seven years of holding the sale, the tech company has managed to turn it into a massive shopping event of holiday-like proportions, Adobe notes. “Last year’s Prime Day event was able to generate nearly Cyber Monday’s worth of online spend — so the two days combined are about the same as Cyber Monday,” said Pandya.
Adobe’s Digital Economy Index charted the numbers: US online spending for the first two days of Prime Day last year grossed $5.2 billion per day, exceeding $5.1 billion on Thanksgiving. Amazon’s sales are down from Cyber Monday’s $10.9 billion, but Adobe expects this year’s edition, slated for June 21 and 22, to break that threshold this time around.
Performing at a high level again is “obviously very important to Amazon,” Pandya said, “but the sales and the days themselves can also have a huge impact across retailers of all sizes.”
Indeed, such events tend to spur competitors such as Walmart, Target, and other stores to launch their own promotions, sparking sales across the retail sector. Overall US e-commerce growth in 2020 was 41 percent year-on-year. During Prime Day, it jumped 79 percent.
That halo effect could be even more massive this year and even help accelerate online shopping trends. The May 2021 report data offers some context, but needs a little elaboration.
Adobe Analytics data pegs online spending in the US for the month at $73.5 billion, a year-over-year decline of 11 percent. But it was an unusual period with “high peaks” due to the pandemic, Pandya explained, so she went further back to better understand the trajectory of e-commerce.
“When you compare with [May] 2019 and doing a two-year comparison, we are actually up 58 percent, in terms of online growth,” he added.
Monthly comparisons may seem just as deceptive. March and April showed larger year-on-year growth of 74 and 70 percent, respectively, which outpaced May. However, these months have been driven by stimulus payments. With that in mind, it’s worth noting that May maintained most of the momentum without the extra cash that motivated consumers.
That’s not only impressive, but also bode well for online shopping universally. As many experts predict, most consumers seem to rely more on e-commerce than ever before.
Obviously, that benefits the sector as a whole, including Amazon. And now, as it prepares for the next Prime Day, the expectations are very high – at least apart from the clothes.
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