Pattern Insights
2022 Ecommerce Consumer Price Index – Amazon
An analysis from the Pattern data science team on how the prices of products on Amazon shift throughout the year.
America’s pandemic exit had a large impact on consumer trends and pricing. Stimulus, shortages, inflation, and job losses all factor into the fluctuation of product pricing on Amazon during the years following the pandemic. After reviewing our digital commerce data, we see that 2022 is the most recent typical year the United States has had on Amazon since 2019.
To project product pricing patterns in 2023, we analyzed the price of the most popular products in every category on Amazon during every day of the 2022 calendar year.
Key Takeaways
- The most affordable and least affordable days both fall in December.
- Prices during the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event are lower than the second day.
- Promotional periods continue to not be a frequent factor on Amazon, compared to brick and mortar retailers. Prominent shopping days are frequently more expensive overall aside from a few exceptions, including Small Business Saturday, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday.
- Q2 is the only quarter when prices are above average every month. Those months also happen to be the three most expensive months of the year.
- Groceries have the smallest price spread during the year (8%), while the clothing, shoes, and jewelry category has the largest (43%).
How does the price of products on Amazon vary throughout the year?
- Price spread: ↕ 95%
- Most affordable day: Dec. 17
- Least affordable day: Dec. 24
- Most affordable quarter: Q4
- Least affordable quarter: Q2
Which months are most affordable for shoppers?
December is the best time for consumers to shop on Amazon, prices on average are at their lowest, unlike April, where prices reach their highest for the year.
What are the 5 most affordable days for buying products on Amazon?
It may be tradition to do holiday shopping during the days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, but data shows that these are no longer the best days for deals. Currently the top 5 days for consumers to purchase fall later, between Dec. 3rd and Dec. 17th.
- No. 1: Dec. 17
- No. 2: Dec. 15
- No. 3: Dec. 12
- No. 4: Dec. 3
- No. 5: Dec. 5
What are the 5 most expensive days for buying products on Amazon?
Interestingly, the most affordable and most expensive day fall the week leading up to Christmas.
- No. 1: Dec. 24
- No. 2: Jan. 4
- No. 3: Nov. 24
- No. 4: Jul. 14
- No. 5: Nov. 23
Are promotional periods common on Amazon?
Unlike their brick-and-mortar counterparts, retailers on Amazon often shy away from deep promotions during prominent holidays — the one exception being the winter holiday shopping season. But Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and the Sunday before Thanksgiving still offer great pricing for consumers. Looking deeper, let’s see how prominent shopping days are compared to the average day.
How is inflation impacting prices on Amazon so far in 2023?
In general, price trends have remained consistent compared to last year.
Methodology
Pattern analyzed the prices of more than 714,000 of the most popular products in every category in the U.S. Amazon marketplace for all 365 days of the 2022 calendar year. Products only qualified for the index if they were one of the three most popular products in their category during the year. Percent change in product price represents the variability of the price of each product each day of the year against its average price for that same year.
