Illustration by Elias Stein
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Now we know: Americans are hooked on buying a lot of stuff online. A new study says U.S. consumers will spend a record $1 trillion in online shopping in 2022. The study, part of the
Adobe
Digital Economy Index series, noted that consumers shelled out $1.7 trillion online since the pandemic began, from March 2020 through February 2022, almost triple combined 2018 and 2019 online sales of $609 billion.
Adobe estimated 2021 U.S. online sales at $885 billion, up 9% from $813 billion in 2020, which in turn soared 41% from $575 billion in 2019. Adobe also found that prices rose for 21 consecutive months—as inflation grew more severe. In 2020, Adobe says, incremental online spending over 2019 totaled $237.9 billion, including $4.7 billion due to higher prices. More startling was that of the $72.2 billion of incremental spending in 2021, $22.2 billion reflected
