U.S. consumer spending on e-commerce is expected to hit a record $1 trillion this year thanks to the pandemic-driven shift to online shopping, a report from Adobe Analytics showed on Tuesday.
The forecast represents a jump of 13 percent from 2021 and follows a total spend of $1.7 trillion over the course of two years of the COVID-19 crisis, starting March 2020.
“The pandemic was a consequential moment for e-commerce. Not only did it accelerate growth by nearly two years, but it also impacted the types of goods consumers are willing to buy online,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.
Online spending on groceries soared during the health crisis, rising 7.2 percent last year after more than doubling in 2020, as consumers preferred the safety and convenience of home deliveries and curbside pick-up.
That compared with only modest growth for apparel, while electronics cemented its position as the top category in online shopping.
“E-commerce is being reshaped by grocery shopping, a category with minimal discounting compared to legacy categories like electronics and apparel,” said Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing and insights at Adobe.
The forecast for 2022 is also supported by signs of robust demand from consumers even as prices surge for products from snacks to sweatshirts.
After accounting for $32 billion of e-commerce sales last year, inflation is expected to make up as much as $27 billion in online spending in 2022, Adobe said. The company covers over one trillion visits to U.S. retail websites in its analysis.
