Online Grocery Prices in US Jump 7.6% in February Excluding Delivery

The price of online grocery purchases across the U.S. jumped by a record-setting 7.6% in February compared to a year ago, and that’s without factoring in the delivery costs, according to data released Thursday (March 10) by software company Adobe Inc.

Adobe’s overall digital price index was up 3.6% year over year, the highest rate since at least 2014. Clothing jumped 16.7% from February 2021 to last month, the biggest spike among the 18 categories tracked. The prices of electronics, toys and computers dropped year over year.

Retail sales, excluding cars, were up 8.7% year over year last month, with inflation playing some role in the uptick, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report this week. That was led by a 37.6% jump in spending on work clothes as many companies are pushing employees to return to their offices.

“Despite inflation, consumers are putting their record savings to work and expressing themselves through fashion again,” said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and former chief executive officer of Sacks Inc., in a statement.

Adobe expects online shopping to top $1 trillion this year. The company this week launched a web portal that includes an in-depth look at what people pay for online.

“These real-time signals are becoming more vital for businesses and policymakers to understand changing consumer behaviors and its impact on the offerings they provide,” said Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing and insights at Adobe, in a press release.

Related: Inflation Soars 7.9% to Another 40-Year High

Price increases on gas, food and shelter led the way to 40-year record high inflation, with the Consumer Price Index hitting 7.9%, up from 7.5% in January, according to the Consumer Price Index Summary report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.

The CPI measures how much people pay for goods and services, including groceries, clothes, restaurant meals, recreation and vehicles.