Online prices hit a 40-month low in August

Online prices dipped to a 40-month low YoY, according to the monthly Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI) published this week.

In August, overall online prices fell 3.2%, completing a full year of YoY price drops. Month over month prices increased 0.4%, which Adobe attributed to a rebound from the deep online shopping discounts on July’s Amazon Prime Day, along with competing events held by other retailers.

The DPI, which analyzes 1 trillion visits to retail sites and 100 million SKUs across 18 categories including apparel, books, personal care, and furniture and bedding, found that 11 categories saw YoY prices drop, while six categories’ prices dipped month over month.

The biggest YoY price drop came from flowers and related gifts, down 31.4% annually, with a 0.15% month over month decrease. Computer prices dove 14.2% YoY and just under 1% for the month, while electronics prices were down 11.6% YoY and 0.8% for the month. Sporting goods prices dropped 7% YoY and 1.4% from July; appliances had similar annual and monthly decreases. Home and garden prices fell 6.8% YoY, but notched a 0.2% monthly rise, while toys dipped 6.6%, while monthly prices were nearly flat.

Some online categories continue to see an annual uptick in prices. Grocery prices were up 5% YoY, though annual increases have slowed for 11 straight months, Adobe noted, having peaked with a 14.3% YoY rise in September 2022. Grocery prices fell 0.2% from July, the first drop since May 2021. Pet products saw a 5.5% uptick, a slowdown from increases in June and July, but continuing a trend of YoY increases dating back to May 2020. Pet product prices rose just 0.9% month over month.

Adobe’s online price data was released just before the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August, which measures offline prices. The CPI rose 0.6% in August, the largest month over month bump of the year, and 3.7% YoY.