Online Shopping Sees Biggest Decline In 10 Years Due To Tariffs

A new survey has found that online shopping is experiencing its biggest slowdown in a decade as tariffs impact the e-commerce sector.The finding is bad news for leading e-commerce companies such as Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY), and Coupang (CPNG), among other online retailers. The survey from privately held Alix Partners found that e-commerce is experiencing its most disruptive period in more than 10 years as online shopping activity drops due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.According to the survey, online purchases for home delivery experienced double-digit year-over-year declines across major categories such as office supplies, sporting goods, home furnishings, and electronics, each of which has fallen by 10 percentage points or more. Groceries ordered online for delivery was the lone exception to the negative trend, said Alix Partners.Tariffs are blamed for the decline, with 34% of consumers saying they delayed purchases due to uncertainty over prices, and 66% saying they will seek domestic options if overseas prices increase by 10% or more.Twenty-eight per cent of consumers said they pulled ahead purchases earlier in the year to avoid extra import costs caused by President Trump’s tariffs. At the same time, the survey found only a minority (20%) of consumers are now actively looking to “Buy American” because of the tariffs. The online survey was conducted by Alix Partners between May 31 and June 3 of this year.News of the online shopping decline comes as Amazon prepares to hold its summer Prime Day sales event from July 8-11. The company extended this summer’s Prime Day by two additional days. AMZN stock is flat on the year (up 0.11%) and trading at $220.46 U.S. per share.