Adobe has released data revealing that US consumers spent $331.6 billion online from January 1 to April 30, 2024, a 7% increase year-over-year.

The growth in online spending has been bolstered by stable spend in discretionary categories including electronics and apparel, along with a surge in online grocery shopping. Adobe expects the first half of 2024 to drive over $500 billion in online spend, representing 6.8% YoY growth.

The data, derived from Adobe Analytics, analyses online commerce transactions, covering over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

Consumers spent $61.8 billion online for electronics (up 3.1% YoY), $52.5 billion for apparel (up 2.6% YoY), and $38.8 billion on groceries (15.7% YoY). Inflation has led shoppers to cheaper goods across major e-commerce categories. Adobe found the share of the cheapest goods increased significantly across categories including personal care, electronics, apparel, home/garden, furniture/bedding, and grocery.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) usage has increased, with research showing it is up 11.8% from the same period last year. Adobe expects BNPL to drive between $81 billion and $84.8 billion in 2024, putting YoY growth between 8% and 13%.

Adobe also noted that online shopping is becoming mobile-first, with mobile driving $156.9 billion in online spend in the first four months of 2024, up 9.8% YoY.

Meanwhile, Adobe's Digital Price Index shows that e-commerce prices have fallen for over a year now (down 5.6% YoY in April 2024).

Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said: "In an unpredictable economic environment, the latest data from Adobe Analytics shows continued resilience in the digital economy, as consumers embrace new categories online. Groceries is a standout, and Adobe expects that in the next 3 years, the category will be a dominant force in e-commerce that is on par with electronics and apparel in revenue share."