High inflation triggers a recession in the U.S., what impact will this have on Amazon’s product category trends?

It is understood that in 2022, U.S. inflation reached a record level and triggered the risk of economic recession. Under this situation, consumers' shopping habits changed throughout 2022 and guided the direction of Amazon's category trends.

JungleScout's latest data reveals how Amazon category trends are affected by the macro economy and how the demand and prices of different categories have changed. The report shows that different categories on Amazon have been affected differently, with demand rising in some categories and falling in others.

Categories with the largest declines in sales and revenue: Apparel and jewelry

According to JungleScout’s consumer trend data, 26% of consumers said they would purchase less apparel in the fourth quarter of 2022 than in the third quarter. Of all the categories surveyed, apparel saw the second largest drop in consumer spending.

Cobalt data shows that the overall apparel, footwear and jewelry category revenue fell 33% year-on-year, and sales fell 30%. Although prices remained relatively stable, rising only 1%.

For example, Columbia dresses saw both sales and revenue fall 98%; Lee Riders jeans revenue fell 94% and unit sales fell 95%; and Pandora necklaces saw sales fall 45% and revenue fall 49%.

Categories with the largest revenue growth: Health and home products

Consumer trend data shows that in the fourth quarter of 2022, most U.S. consumers said their spending on health and household categories such as cleaning supplies, vitamins and dietary supplements remained the same or increased. In the third quarter, more than half of consumers said their spending decreased.

Demand for vitamins and supplements is increasing, with Morex Biotin Multivitamin Gummies, for example, seeing unit sales and revenue increase by nearly 300% in the fourth quarter.

The growing popularity of bulk buying likely helped drive unit sales of super-sized packages of Charmin Extra Gentle toilet paper up 551% and revenue up 493%.

More eco-friendly, reusable and natural health and home products are emerging and gaining popularity with consumers, as evidenced by UselessBrand reusable paper towels, which have seen revenue growth of 598% and unit sales growth of 540% in the past 12 months.

CarGuysSuperCleaner has seen unit sales and revenue growth of more than 5,000% on Amazon, which is related to its promotion on TikTok, where videos about the product have been viewed more than 3.4 million times as of February 2023.

The category with the largest sales growth: Electronics

The category with the fastest unit sales growth was electronics, up 104% year over year, likely due in part to the fact that electronics had the largest median price drop, down nearly 20%.

For example, Samsung Chromebook sales increased 292% and revenue increased 236%; Acer Nitro gaming laptop unit sales and revenue increased more than 7,000%.

The Beats brand has clearly remained strong in the face of the recession, with sales of its Powerbeats headphones growing nearly 5,000% while revenue grew nearly 8,000%.

Category with the largest median price increase: Pet supplies

In some categories, sales and revenues increased year-over-year despite price increases.

Pets were one of the top 10 priorities for consumers in a fourth-quarter 2022 JungleScout survey, resulting in year-over-year sales and revenue growth despite the category experiencing the highest median price increase (over 50%).

Organic and naturally sourced pet products are growing in popularity. Unit sales of PurinaBeyond organic dog food increased more than 3,000% while revenue increased nearly 5,000%, and unit sales of Stella & Chewy's Raw Coated Premium Kibble cat food increased 670% while revenue increased 355%.

Kissbak also saw an increase in revenue and sales of dog collars, up 446% and 457%, respectively.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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