Data Purl
  • Platform
    • Coverage400+ retailers across the US, UK, Europe and Asia, history back to 2013
    • Shelf IndicesFree monthly price and discount indices by category and country
    • Brand headlinesQuarterly prices and markdowns for 84 consumer brands
    • Custom dataResearched extracts scoped to your sectors, brands and dates
    • MethodologyHow we collect, classify and map brands to 1,900+ listed companies
    • ValidationCollection success, quality screens and backtests
    • Not sure what you need?Talk to the founders
  • Solutions
  • Pricing
    • ResearchFindings tested against the shelf, and brand studies
    • BlogWhat the online shelf showed this month
    • GlossaryDefinitions of retail and alternative-data measures
Client loginStart free
  • Platform
    • Coverage400+ retailers, history back to 2013
    • Shelf IndicesFree monthly price and discount indices
    • Brand headlinesQuarterly prices for 84 consumer brands
    • Custom dataExtracts scoped to your sectors and dates
    • How we build it
      MethodologyHow we collect, classify and map brands
    • ValidationQuality screens and backtests
  • Solutions
  • Pricing
    • Research
    • Blog
    • Glossary
Not sure what you need?Talk to the foundersClient login
  1. Home
  2. /Research
  3. /Inflation in the shelf: hard goods up, apparel down
SnapshotBetween the Receipts · BTR Vol 5·September 2026

Inflation in the shelf: hard goods up, apparel down

Measured on matched SKUs against a 2024 base, US shelf prices are rising in hard goods and metals and falling in soft goods. Jewelry (+20%), auto brakes (+12%) and watches and wearables (+11%) lead; casual wear (-10%), beds (-4%) and soft furnishings (-2%) are in deflation.

Data through August 2026.

+20%
jewelry
+12%
auto brakes
+11%
watches and wearables
-10%
casual wear

The claim

News inflation trackers map where consumer prices are rising as tariffs and commodity costs work through.

Source: The New York Times inflation tracker, 2026

What the shelf shows

  • The biggest increases are in precious-metal and tariff-exposed hard goods: jewelry, auto parts, watches and wearables, and hardware.
  • Apparel and home durables are deflating: casual wear, beds and soft furnishings are cheaper than in 2024 on identical products.
  • Consumers are paying more for hard goods and metals while soft goods keep getting cheaper.

How we tested it

Each SKU is indexed to its own 2024 price and the category figure is the median change across matched SKUs, so product mix cannot drive the result.

Only categories with at least 1,000 tracked SKUs are shown.

Definitions of every measure are on the methodology page.

What it means

Category-level shelf inflation diverges sharply from headline averages. Matched-SKU data shows which categories carry the price pressure.

Related

Apparel coverageHome furnishings coverageHome improvement coverageMatched-SKU inflation (same-SKU price change)Mix shift
  • Measuring category inflation from online prices

How to cite

Recommended wording
“According to Data Purl, measured on matched SKUs against a 2024 base, US shelf prices are rising in hard goods and metals and falling in soft goods.”
Scope
US, matched-SKU median price change versus each SKU's own 2024 base; categories with at least 1,000 tracked SKUs; online listed prices at covered retailers
Data through
August 2026
Method
Between the Receipts Vol 5; definitions on the methodology page
Published
September 2026

Data Purl, "Inflation in the shelf: hard goods up, apparel down", Between the Receipts (BTR Vol 5), September 2026. https://data-purl.com/research/shelf-inflation-tracker-by-category

Published by Data Purl for information only. Not investment advice.

Get every story in the series

Clients receive the full Between the Receipts volumes, including company-level findings and the data behind them. Start free, or talk to the founders about client access.

Start free Talk to the founders
Data Purl

Data Purl is an eCommerce pricing and assortment data provider that follows every brand across the retailers that sell it: SKU-level price, discount, availability and assortment history across 400+ retailers back to 2013, compared like for like, with brands resolved to their owners, public or private, and listed owners mapped to tickers.

+44 20 8125 3010 (UK)+1 212-660-0780 (US / International)

Product

  • Platform
  • Coverage
  • Retailers
  • Custom data
  • Methodology
  • Compliance
  • Validation
  • vs AI web scraping
  • Choosing a data provider

Solutions

  • Public market investors
  • Private equity
  • Consultants
  • Investment banking M&A
  • Venture capital

Use cases

  • Pricing power
  • Markdowns and inventory
  • Commercial due diligence
  • Brand distribution
  • Category inflation
  • Portfolio monitoring
  • Tariff pass-through
  • Holiday promotions
  • Private label
  • Assortment cuts
  • Earnings previews
  • Product launches
  • Choosing a data provider
  • Build vs buy

Resources

  • Plans and pricing
  • Research
  • Blog
  • Shelf Indices
  • Brand headlines
  • Use cases
  • Glossary
  • FAQ
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms of use
  • Start free
  • Talk to the founders
400+
retailers
1,900+
public companies mapped
4,000
product categories
2013
history back to

© 2026 Data Purl. All rights reserved. Data Purl is a trading name of Cleveland Alternative Data Limited, a company registered in the United Kingdom with company number 16234509. Registered office: Basement, 52 Cleveland Square, London W2 6DB. Contact: support@data-purl.com.