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- The Associated Press, New York Times and Washington Post, cite Kount data on sporting goods purchases
- Business Insider features Kount’s data on the increase in pet supply transactions
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eCommerce Data Trends
2020
This page details 2020 trends. Looking for the latest? Visit and subscribe to our Blog.
Sporting goods jump nearly 600%
The pandemic has led to a permanent digital shift and acceleration of digital models
- Consumers are beginning to expect options like buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS)
- Many industries including crafts, pet supplies, health and wellness, sporting goods, home office, and electronics saw a big uptick in eCommerce transactions, especially in the spring
- While some industries saw initial decreases, transaction volumes across the USA have overall increased
Quick Service Restaurants grow as consumers adopt mobile order ahead options. After an initial decline when stay-at-home orders began, the industry consistently grew throughout the year.
Crafts and Wine Sales saw the biggest year over year jump
as families looked for at-home activities and made items like masks
Pet supplies transactions jumped 711% year over year as families adopted new pets and looked online for necessities.
Gaming and Streaming saw multiple spikes,
with a 153% year over year jump early in the pandemic
RETAIL FRAUD TRENDS
Retailers need to watch for resellers, retail arbitrage, cashing out, and friendly fraud.
GAMING AND STREAMING FRAUD TRENDS
Accounts are vulnerable to credential stuffing, account takeover, and for streaming services—watch for “potlucks.”
FOOD SERVICE FRAUD TRENDS
More online orders mean more loyalty accounts—an more fraud. Stop “pizza plugs” and compromised accounts.
Media Inquiries: News@Kount.com
Global eCommerce has been impacted by Coronavirus and COVID-19 in a number of ways. Kount data shows online purchase volumes have rapidly increased for some industries. It also indicates changes in the way consumers are engaged in eCommerce.
Transaction Trends by Industry
RETAIL
897%
Increase in Home
Crafts & Wine
711%
Increase in
Pet Supplies
599%
Increase in
Sporting Goods
129%
Increase in
Wellness & Vitamins
128%
Increase in
Home Office & Electronics
Biggest One Week Year Over Year Increase
Trend Summary:
- Most retail categories show a clear peak in eCommerce transactions during stay-at-home orders, as well as peaks when stimulus payments went out to many Americans.
- In late summer and fall, transaction volumes leveled out some, with bumps related to back-to-school being remote for many families.
- The holiday season followed similar, but steeper, patterns to 2019 with Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend bringing big spikes.
- Crafts sales saw the largest spike in the spring, driven by both DIY personal protective equipment, like fabric for masks, and by at-home activities for the family.
- Health continues to be a focus, with consumers stocking up on vitamins, wellness products, and signing up for home health-improvement programs.
Retail shopping cart data shows these items have spiked week over week in March:
1244%
Increase in Volume of carts containing “Hand Sanitizer” in March
145%
Increase in Volume of carts containing “Toilet Paper” in March
89%
Increase in Volume of carts containing “Firearms” in March
Fraud Trends to Watch in Retail
Resellers
Buying low and selling high using an eCommerce retailer’s supply chain to fulfill orders. This can cause items to be out of stock and also disrupt promotions retailers use to build their business.
Retail Arbitrage
Similar to the resellers, but more dangerous because bad actors use sophisticated technology to automate the entire process providing scale and speed.
Cashing Out
This is when bad actors buy goods or obtain cash using validated stolen payment cards or other user account data.
Friendly Fraud
Occurs when customers request refunds from their issuing banks, claiming that transactions on credit card statements are fraudulent. This type can include accidental friendly fraud or intentional friendly fraud.
GAMING AND WIRELESS
Online gaming and wireless industries show a surge in demand for in-home entertainment across gaming, wireless services, and streaming media.
Fraud Trends to Watch in Gaming, Wireless, and Streaming
Credential Stuffing
Mass login attempts used to verify the validity of stolen username/password pairs. This information is used to take over accounts.
Account Takeover
Illegal access to genuine customer accounts. Due to mass data breaches and phishing attacks that expose billions of usernames and passwords, a threat agent is able to access a user’s confidential online accounts and then steal the data or value contained within them.
Streaming Potluck
Each member of a group brings their account for a streaming service and shares it. Each member of the group has access to all services. Depending on the service provider’s business model, unauthorized account sharing can cause lost revenue.
RESTAURANTS
Quick service restaurants that offer mobile-order ahead and other ways to order food online show significant growth year-over-year in digital channels. This industry saw some impact from business reactions to government mandates, but after the initial adjustment, most restaurants have shown growth as consumers adopted mobile order ahead and loyalty options.
Fraud Trends to Watch in Restaurants
“Pizza Plug”
Fraudsters use stolen accounts to provide heavily discounted food delivery. This practice is often referred to as a “Pizza Plug” when advertised on social media.
Compromised Accounts
Fraudsters use online marketplaces to sell access to compromised accounts for streaming and food delivery. Marketplaces can offer stolen accounts from hundreds of brands for sale.
Adjusting to New eCommerce Trends
The changes in shopping habits due to the pandemic brought changes in eCommerce models. Many businesses are seeing an increase in next-day or two-day delivery requests, Buy Online, Pick Up in Store requests, and ship-from-store efforts. This introduced new or expanded use cases for many businesses.
Same Day or Next Day shipping peaked at 305% year over year increase in mid-April, approximately the same week many stimulus checks went out in the U.S. A second spike occurred around holiday shopping season.
These changes can introduce or expand fraud attempts, meaning fraud prevention leaders need to be closely involved in order to implement appropriate controls and data collection into the process. Kount’s AI-driven fraud prevention, customizable policy engine, and data and analytics tool can help businesses navigate these quickly evolving trends.
Read about Kount’s COVID-19 Response and get in touch with Kount to navigate evolving fraud prevention needs. READ BLOG
USA Transaction Data
- eCommerce transaction volume in the USA hit above the previous peak-holiday shopping season volumes in late April. As many areas reopened, eCommerce volume slowed slightly, but remains elevated year over year.
- The 2020 holiday season saw a big jump in online transactions.
- Some industries saw major decreases in transaction volume as a result of stay-at-home orders, but on a high-level, this is countered by increases in other verticals.
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