81 Percent Rise in May Retail eCommerce Sales, ACI Worldwide Research Reveals
June 08 2020 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Easing of lockdown restrictions reflected in
trends across retail categories; DIY and sportswear recover while
growth in home office and electronics supplies levels off
Global eCommerce sales continued to show strong growth in May,
with certain sectors experiencing triple-digit year-on-year growth,
according to an analysis by ACI Worldwide of hundreds of millions
of eCommerce transactions from global merchants. Overall retail
transaction growth of 81 percent in May, compared to the same
period last year, was primarily driven by sportswear and sporting
goods (216%), retail specific to housewares and DIY supplies
(190%), and gaming (84%).
The sustained increase in eCommerce transaction volumes reflects
a further full month of wide-ranging COVID-19-related restrictions,
with consumers opting for online and click-and-collect channels
over brick and mortar stores. However, the easing of lockdown
restrictions in many countries is reflected in certain sectors that
until now have experienced the biggest boost; gaming purchases were
up 126 percent over the previous year in April, compared to 84
percent in May, while electronics were up only 32 percent in the
past month after having been up more than 55 percent in April.
Sectors that have been most negatively impacted showed a slight
recovery in May; travel was down 91 percent in April, while in May
improved slightly to 73 percent lower than the same period last
year.
“While many of the trends in eCommerce purchasing behavior that
emerged in March and April have continued, we are starting to see
the impact that the gradual easing of restrictions is having on
retail activity,” said Debbie Guerra, executive vice president, ACI
Worldwide. “People working from home are now set up, and we see
spending shifting from home office supplies back toward consumer
goods like sporting goods and home improvements.”
Fraud attempt rates for May were at 3.4 percent, down from 5.3
percent and 4.4 percent in March and April, respectively. Not only
did fraud rate by value decrease in May, it was also the first time
this year that fraud decreased on a year-on-year basis (3.8% in May
2019). However, the average ticket price of attempted fraud
increased by $18, driven by electronics and retail goods.
Meanwhile, non-fraudulent chargebacks have increased 25 percent
overall, with airline and ticketing sectors particularly impacted.
Chargebacks are taking slightly longer to process due to COVID-19
(on average, 7 days longer) as issuers and merchants strive to
maintain positive consumer experiences.
“The vigilance and adaptability displayed by merchants as they
evolve their fraud strategies in light of COVID-19 appears to have
been rewarded by decreasing fraud rates,” continued Guerra.
“However, non-fraud chargebacks have risen 25 percent and will
continue to present a challenge, confirming the trend of friendly
fraud we anticipated—especially for hard hit businesses in travel
and ticketing—while these merchants overhaul credit and rebooking
options, dispute resolution processes, supply chain visibility and
customer communication channels.”
Key Findings:
eCommerce Trends:
- 23 percent eCommerce transactional volume increase in May 2020,
compared to May 2019 (slightly lower than the 23.5% YoY increase in
April) with a mixed picture across sectors
- Sectors experiencing significant growth in May (compared to May
2019) included: gaming: +84% (+126% in April), general retail:
+190.2% (+209% in April), jewelry: +190.8% (+136.9% in April),
sportswear and sporting goods: +216.3% (+114% in April) and
electronics: +32.2% (+55.5% in April)
- Online sectors with declining transaction volumes in May
(compared to May 2019) included: dating: -11% (-5% in April), gift
cards: -24% (-14% in April)), telco: -12% (-9% in April),
ticketing: -97% (-99% in April) and travel: -73% (-91% in
April)
- Home office items (including monitors, headsets, webcams and
internet connectivity devices) accounted for 10 percent of all
electronics purchases in May, down from a high of 15 percent in
March and 14 percent in April.
Fraud Trends:
- Fraud attempt rate by value was 3.4 percent in May, half a
percentage down from the same period last year, and lower than the
fraud rates recorded in March and April (5.3% and 4.4%,
respectively)
- Average ticket price of attempted fraud increased by $18 YoY,
while genuine purchase average ticket price decreased by $24
Tips for Consumers to protect identity
and personal information during the COVID-19 crisis:
- Beware of online requests for personal information.
Coronavirus-themed emails seeking personal information are likely
to be phishing scams. Legitimate government agencies won’t ask for
that information. Delete the email.
- Check the email address or link. Inspect a link by
hovering the mouse over the URL to see where it leads. Sometimes
it’s obvious the web address is not legitimate, but keep in mind
that phishers can create links that closely resemble legitimate
addresses. Delete the email.
- Watch for spelling and grammatical mistakes. If an email
includes spelling, punctuation and grammar errors, it’s likely a
sign of a phishing email. Delete the email.
- Look for generic greetings. Phishing emails are unlikely
to use a person’s name. Greetings like “Dear sir or madam” often
signal an email is not legitimate.
- Avoid emails that insist on acting now. Phishing emails
often try to create a sense of urgency or demand immediate action.
Delete the email.
Tips for Merchants to maintain security
and deliver to customers during the COVID-19 crisis:
- Maintain security and deliver a great customer
experience, as consumer purchasing behavior—both genuine and
fraudulent—has changed.
- For example: Express shipment and buy online, pick up in store
delivery methods continue to grow, making transaction
decision speed and accuracy critical.
- Use customer profiling and time-on-file techniques to maintain
the customer experience for valued customers and ensure good
transactions are still accepted.
- Expect an increase in “friendly fraud” chargebacks as a
result of growing financial difficulties among consumers. Friendly
fraud occurs when a cardholder receives goods but denies making a
purchase or a family member makes purchase without cardholder
approval.
- Monitor systems and update as necessary. Business intelligence
tools and real-time monitoring lead to immediate decisions and
responses. Employ rapid access to fraud intelligence to inform
rules changes in real time.
- Engage frequently with web and mobile site security management.
Give these teams the tools, techniques and procedures to detect,
contain and mitigate botnets. And considering the presence of both
good and bad bots, put business policies in place to address this
issue with clarity for both teams.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments (UP) company, powers
electronic payments for more than 6,000 organizations around the
world. More than 1,000 of the largest financial institutions and
intermediaries, as well as thousands of global merchants, rely on
ACI to execute $14 trillion each day in payments and securities. In
addition, myriad organizations utilize our electronic bill
presentment and payment services. Through our comprehensive suite
of software solutions delivered on customers’ premises or through
ACI’s private cloud, we provide real-time, immediate payments
capabilities and enable the industry’s most complete omni-channel
payments experience. To learn more about ACI, please visit
www.aciworldwide.com. You can also find us on Twitter
@ACI_Worldwide.
© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2020 ACI, ACI Worldwide, the ACI
logo, ACI Universal Payments, UP, the UP logo and all ACI
product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of
ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United
States, other countries or both. Other parties' trademarks
referenced are the property of their respective owners.
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Dan Ring dan.ring@aciworldwide.com 781-370-3600 Katrin Boettger
katrin.boettger@aciworldwide.com 0044 (0)7776 147 910 Christopher
Taine (APAC/EMEA) christopher.taine@aciworldwide.com +49 (0) 89
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