While the categories of electronics, apparel, furniture and groceries represent the largest portion of online sales at over 50% of overall spend, most consumers are buying less expensive products in those categories as a hedge against inflation. Cosmetics has been the outlier category, per the report.
“You have consumers looking for an opportunity to indulge and splurge on something when they’re having to do the opposite in so many other categories,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst of Adobe Digital Insights, told Retail Dive. “We’ve seen them having to hold back spending on certain items, trade down to buying cheaper versions. And cosmetics is one of the products, especially lipsticks and fragrances, where they feel quite comfortable in trading up.”
