Global online sales fell 3% in the first quarter due to inflation

Recently, Salesforce released the Global Shopping Index for the first quarter of 2022 .

Data shows that global online sales fell 3% year-on-year in the first quarter , which means that global online sales fell for the first time in nearly 9 years .

The reason is that consumer purchasing power is affected by inflation, supply chain issues and the global economic situation.

Taking the United States as an example, inflation in the United States has caused the average selling price of online goods to increase by 11% . The selling prices of goods in the United States have continued to increase in recent quarters, leading to a decrease in online spending.

As global spending fell , online traffic also fell by 2% . At the same time, order volume decreased significantly, by 12% .

It is worth noting that due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, fuel costs in Europe soared, and online sales and order volumes in Europe decreased sharply, with online sales decreasing by 13% and orders decreasing by 17%.

Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of Salesforce Retail, said that inflation has led to increased spending costs, while consumers have purchased fewer goods at the same time. This is not a temporary consumer mentality, but an important signal of a shift in consumer consumption behavior. To solve this problem, retailers must eliminate friction between offline and online channels to attract and retain loyal consumers.

With the labor blockade and the continued closure of the Shanghai port, the global supply chain is currently facing certain pressures .

Due to long-term supply chain pressures and product delivery delays , the number of SKUs in the first quarter of 2022 fell 3% compared with the same period last year .

The products with the largest inventory reduction were toys and learning products, as well as electrical appliances. Toys and learning products decreased by 23%, and electrical appliances decreased by 12%.

In the current market environment, flexible payment methods also provide certain guarantees for sellers' purchases .

Such as buy now, pay later (BNPL), which enables them to make necessary purchases immediately and pay them off over time.

Data shows that 9% of global online spending in the first quarter of 2022 was completed using BNPL, a year-on-year increase of 20% and a 9% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 .

Across the UK, consumer spending using BNPL accounted for 12% of spending in the first quarter , up 37% year-on-year.

Germany , Belgium and the Netherlands had the highest BNPL usage in the first quarter , while France, Italy, Spain and Canada saw the largest year-on-year growth.

In summary, affected by inflation and rising fuel prices, the global consumer confidence index is undergoing major changes, which may reduce consumer spending in the next few months of this year. Therefore, sellers can make some selective changes in inventory management, product pricing and promotional activities based on the current market situation.

Global online sales

inflation