Retail sector up 209% in April, ACI Worldwide finds

The sustained increase in ecommerce transaction volume reflects a full month of wide-ranging restrictions on in-store retail activity and other COVID-19-related measures, evidenced by average transaction volume growth of 23.5% in April versus the same period last year. By comparison, there was a 5.3% increase in March 2020, when lockdowns first came into effect.

Key findings:

• Online retail sectors with rising transaction volumes in April 2020 (compared to April 2019):

- general retail: +209 percent (74% in March), gaming: +126 percent (97.3% in March), digital downloads: +26 percent (5.4% in March), liquor online sales (Australia-specific): +208 percent (85% in March)

• Online retail sectors with declining transaction volumes in the same period:

- ticketing: -99%, travel: -91%, online dating: -5%

• Transaction volume trends January-April 2020 (compared to same period in 2019):

- digital downloads: +17%, gaming: +60%, retail: +24%

Chargebacks for non-fraudulent reasons have risen by 25% through the end of March as merchants face challenges in processing refunds, staffing call centers or delivering services.

Fraud attempt rates reached 4.3% in April, slightly down from 5.3% in March, but still up from 3.8% compared to this time last year. Attempted fraud is focused on segments that have seen high sales growth, such as consumer electronics, with the average ticket price of attempted fraud up USD 26. Click-and-collect, or buy online, pick up in store, also accounted for a rise in attempted fraud. The transactional value of attempted fraud rose by 9.9%, reflecting fraudsters’ continued emphasis on popular high-value items including laptops and TVs.