industry focus
Cost-of-living crisis bites into online sales
The cost-of-living crisis and stubborn inflation rates driven by food costs have triggered a drop in UK online spending.
Spending online fell by 2.9 per cent in March compared to the previous month, according to Adobe’s latest Digital Price Index.
Compared to last year, online spending was down by more than 10 per cent to £8.2 billion.
The decline came as the country saw the price of groceries and other essential items jump by 9.1 per cent compared to 2022.
However, some non-essential items such as sporting goods and home and garden products actually decreased in price when compared to 12 months before, with the biggest price drops in toys – 14.4 per cent cheaper – and electronics – nearly 12 per cent cheaper.
“We’re now three years on from the first UK lockdowns, and the significant increase we saw to ecommerce in response has proved permanent,” said Suzanne Steele, vice president and managing director for Adobe in the UK.
“The cost-of-living crisis continues to hit consumer wallets, with significant increases in grocery prices and rising bills impacting discretionary spending, causing people to turn to Buy Now Pay Later services to manage their finances.”
The figures also show that the trend towards mobile shopping continues, with three in five - 57 per cent of purchases being made on smartphones - a nearly five per cent increase in share.
Consumers are also turning to Click and Collect as many attempt to save on shipping. This method was used in 8.7 per cent of online orders in March, down slightly on the previous month but up 7.5 per cent on the previous year.
