Online inflation sees biggest YOY fall since March 2022

The Adobe Digital Economy Index has released new data revealing that UK online spending in August reached 9.43 billion pounds, marking a slight year-on-year decrease of 1.3 percent and a 3.5 percent drop compared to July.

Brits eagerly embraced a September heatwave with online prices seeing a significant 6.2 percent year-on-year decline, the most substantial drop in inflation since March 2022. Essential items saw slower price increases, with groceries rising by 3.63 percent compared to August 2022.

Buy Now Pay Later on the Rise

UK consumers amassed 1.57 billion pounds in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) debt in August, the highest monthly total in 2023, constituting 16.7 percent of total online spending. Since the beginning of the year, consumers have spent 10.6 billion pounds using BNPL, accounting for 16.4 percent of total spend, up from 12.3 percent during the same period in the previous year.

Late back-to-school shopping spurs online sales

Parents turned to online shopping for school uniforms, with a 48 percent spending increase in the last week of August and a 76 percent surge in the first week of September compared to 2022.

A 330 percent spike in online spending for travel-sized cosmetics and personal care products occurred on August 29th.

TikTok's share of ecommerce social traffic grew by 71 percent in August, while Instagram's share of referrals declined by 12 percent.

Suzanne Steele, VP and MD for UK and Ireland at Adobe, told FashionUnited: “Our data shows an acceleration in ecommerce spending in June, July and August after a slow start to the year,” said Suzanne Steele VP and MD for UK and Ireland at Adobe. “UK households have faced many pressures on their finances over the past twelve-months, and while today’s figures reveal online prices coming down in many areas, the increasing use of Buy Now Pay Later services compared with 2022 shows that more consumers are supporting their spending with short-term interest-free debt.”

About the Adobe Digital Economy Index:

The Adobe Digital Economy Index analysed vast amounts of data, including tens of billions of visits to retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories, covering the period from August 1st to September 3rd, 2023. Adobe Analytics, a part of Adobe Experience Cloud, was used for this analysis, providing comprehensive insights into the UK digital economy.