Category products are not popular? Inflation hits the United States hard

Online sales rise 6.8%, as U.S. e-commerce growth slows

According to data released by the US Department of Commerce, the growth rate of e-commerce in the United States slowed down in the third quarter of 2021, and consumers' offline spending has surpassed online spending.

According to the data, its online sales in the third quarter reached US$204.62 billion, an increase of only 6.8% compared with US$191.57 billion in the same period last year, which slowed down again from the year-on-year growth of 9.2% in the second quarter of 2021.

However, e-commerce sales increased by 45.6% compared to the third quarter of 2019 before the pandemic . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people's spending patterns changed, resulting in an increase of $19.11 billion in online revenue in the third quarter of this year.

In addition, the online penetration rate in the United States has also declined, but to a lesser extent, from 18.8% in the same period last year to 18.1% in the third quarter of 2021. According to the data, online sales still account for the largest proportion of all spending channels of American consumers.

This is inseparable from the fact that American consumers prefer to shop online, which in turn has led to an increase in the proportion of digital products in retail sales year by year. In addition, during the epidemic, many offline stores were forced to close, and most offline consumers also turned to online shopping, eventually forming stickiness to online shopping.

Although the current share of online sales in all channels in the United States does not exceed 20% , its online sales penetration rate has not immediately declined as the epidemic has been brought under control and people are encouraged to shop offline.

In fact, the impact of the epidemic has not only made a number of outdoor products popular, but also made online sales in the United States flourish. However, the current impact of inflation and other factors in the United States has led to a decline in consumer spending power and a slowdown in the growth of e-commerce, which may have a certain impact on the sales of cross-border sellers.

The growth rate of bicycle market slows down, and it will grow again next year

Due to supply chain impacts, the rapidly growing bicycle market during the epidemic was put on the brakes.

According to data from the NPD Group, revenue in the U.S. bicycle market grew 3% from the previous year to just over $8.4 billion in the 12 months ending in October 2021. In the same period last year, bicycle sales grew 45%.

NPD sports industry analysts believe that the rapid growth last year was affected by the epidemic . During the epidemic , bicycle products that provide social connection, outdoor leisure and sports activities have become popular . At the same time, peripheral products such as bicycle accessories , helmets, shoes and gloves have also achieved rapid growth.

Currently, the categories with the highest sales are mountain bikes , children's bikes , electric bikes and road bikes. The fastest growing category is electric bikes, with sales increasing by 240% in the past two years . This is because electric bikes meet the needs of the elderly, facilitate family outdoor activities, and solve the commuting needs in densely populated areas during the epidemic.

As for the reason for the slowdown in bicycle sales this year, NPD believes that it is mainly affected by the supply chain, especially some mountain bikes, high-end road bikes and some fitness bikes, which have serious shortages of parts. However, this situation is expected to improve.

According to NPD inventory data, the sales-to-inventory ratios of many of these bicycle categories are improving. At the same time, some US government policies will also promote the growth of bicycle sales.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will increase investments in street safety , which will help alleviate safety issues for cyclists . Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Build Back Better Act, which is being considered by the Senate. If passed, the bill would provide subsidies of up to $900 for e-bikes priced under $4,000 , as well as a monthly bicycle commuting benefit of up to $81.

" If the bill passes , these will be strong incentives for consumers to buy and ride bicycles, " analysts said . The NPD Group predicts that bicycle sales could resume strong growth next year.

However, the U.S. government's successive rounds of "big money spending" during the epidemic have also brought about serious inflation problems.

US inflation explodes, five major sectors suffer heavy losses

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the United States has "thrown away money" more than 10 trillion US dollars, but in fact, people in the United States are still facing problems such as rising prices and supply chain shortages.

It is reported that over the past year, the prices of many commodities in the United States have continued to rise. In May this year, a large number of people reported financial difficulties and the inability to purchase necessities. The daily lives of many American families have become a problem, and even millions of families cannot afford the heating bills.

Since 1996, the US inflation rate has generally remained in a stable range. However, in recent months, the prices of some products have been on the rise, with the increase far exceeding this level. The search volume for the word "inflation" has also soared to the highest level in a decade.

Data shows that gasoline, natural gas, used cars, meat , and furniture and bedding are the five areas most affected by inflation, with price increases of 50%, 28%, 26%, 15%, and 12% respectively . In addition, in the past year, the prices of ham, eggs, pork, washing machines, and dryers have also increased by 10% to 20%.

Affected by inflation, in order to reduce spending as much as possible, the consumption habits of American consumers are also changing accordingly. A survey shows that 48% of American consumers will reduce dining out or ordering takeout , 30% of consumers will not replace existing electronic products (such as mobile phones and tablets) , 29% of consumers will reduce spending on food , 29% of consumers will reduce clothing shopping , and 23% of consumers will postpone home decoration .

Affected by the epidemic and economic environment, the US supply chain crisis has not been resolved. In addition, the local unemployment has skyrocketed, and the main consumer force has been gradually weakened, and the purchasing power is far less than before. During Black Friday, many sellers on US sites said that "this year's Black Friday seems to be even colder"...

A report released by Adobe showed that this year's "Black Friday" online sales in the United States reached 8.9 billion US dollars. This is the first time in history that sales have declined during Black Friday, and even the sales data for Thanksgiving was lower than expected.

In response to this situation, some industry insiders analyzed that this is due to the impact of the epidemic and the supply chain, which has resulted in the inability to deliver online shopping goods in a timely manner. Therefore, many local people choose to turn to offline shopping, resulting in a decrease in online orders, but the combination of online and offline is still the trend of future development .

Overall, with the increasing number of shopping applications, the gradual improvement of mobile payments, and the increasingly mature retail market, online retail in the United States still has great market potential in the future.

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