November 10, 2021 – Shoppers have seen over 2 billion out-of-stock messages online, according to Adobe, which released its first set of online shopping data for the 2021 holiday season. As part of the Adobe Digital Economy Index, Adobe provides a comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing direct consumer transactions online.
Some findings in Adobe’s research include:
- Consumers have started shopping earlier this season, enticed by a wave of earlier deals. $72.4 billion has been spent online in October 2021, representing 8% growth year-over-year (YoY).
- The spending is being driven by categories including toys (sales up 50% versus September 2021 average), groceries (up 34%), video games (up 20%), and gift cards (up 20%).
- Year-to-date (Jan 2021 — Oct 2021), $680 billion have been spent online, up 9% YoY and up 57% versus 2019.
According to Adobe, as e-commerce demand picks up, shoppers are feeling the impact of ongoing supply chain constraints: The prevalence of out-of-stock messages has risen a whopping 250% in October 2021, when compared to a pre-pandemic period (Jan 2020) — When compared to two holiday seasons ago (Oct 2019), it is up a staggering 325 percent. And, in this last month alone (Oct 2021), consumers have seen over 2 billion out-of-stock messages online. Of the 18 categories tracked by Adobe, electronics has the highest out-of-stock levels currently, followed by jewelry, apparel, home & garden, and pet products.
“With over 2 billion out-of-stock messages last month, consumers are beginning to understand the real impact of the supply chain challenges,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights. “Some have begun to adjust their holiday strategy accordingly, with parents shopping for toys earlier and some settling for gift cards this season. For those who have not yet started their holiday shopping, they will need to be prepared to be flexible.”