Cyber Week Shopping Has Been Naughty and Nice

Cyber Week

As you may recall, we started this week with a look at the early data that was available from Adobe Analytics on the surprising success of Cyber Week. The short version: Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales exceeded expectations. Consumer spending isn’t down, but shoppers are price sensitive.

Now, to end the week, we have more data. Security-focused digital commerce platform Forter reached out to us with its first-party findings on holiday shopping so far. Highlights include the fact that deep discounts have been offered by smart retailers who recognize which way the winds are blowing.

The results, like the Adobe findings, include surprisingly-robust shopping levels. In fact, Forter has measured year-over-year growth in average order values in North America and Latin America (editor’s note: Adobe Analytics measured U.S.-only). It looks like consumers are flocking to deals more than ever.

“One of the major question marks surrounding Black Friday/Cyber Monday was the impact of the economic downturn,” Forter analytics lead Doriel Abrahams told us. “In fact, we saw the average order value in Latin America and North America increase year-over-year by 15% and 9.7%, respectively.”

Holiday Shopping Kickoff: The Numbers are In

Naughty & Nice

In addition to shoppers (nice), Forter notes that fraudsters (naughty) flocked to all this increased shopping (Forter specializes in eCommerce cyber-security). Here are the rest of the Cyber Week takeaways we’ve synthesized, including innocent shopping… and the nefarious behavior that can follow.

Nice

– The total number of transactions saw little change Cyber Week (-1% YoY) globally through black Friday and cyber Monday (BFCM).

– In the US specifically, BFCM transaction count grew by 3.6% across the weekend.

– Globally, the total amount of money spent Cyber Week  (dollars, not transaction volume) increased 5.3%.

– Average order value was up 15% in LATAM and 9.7% in North America.

– 67% of all transactions were completed on a mobile device vs. 33% on desktop (editor’s note: similar findings were in the Adobe Analytics report).

Tech Cost-Cutting Trend Bites BNPL

Naughty

– BFCM has shown that fraudsters are using some tactics more than others, but they vary widely in skill level necessary to make the fake purchase.

– More sophisticated, career fraudsters are attempting to gain access to accounts earlier in the purchase life cycle with the Account Takeovers (ATO) tactic. ATO attempts increased 35% from 2021 to 2022.

– Less sophisticated fraudsters are using low-tech address manipulation to skirt rules-based systems.

– For example, if the address 123 main street is on a negative list, fraudsters are typing it out as “123 maain street” or “one two three main street.” That way, they can still get their goods delivered without the system picking up on multiple purchases.

– The Forter team has also assembled a list of what items retailers should keep their eyes on this holiday season as fraudsters continue to cash in on the busy holiday season of payments:

– Cozy fleeces

– The latest fashion sneakers

– Household necessities

– Cell phones

– Gaming

– Gift cards

“Fraudsters kept merchants on their toes with changing tactics,” said Abrahams. “Digital commerce isn’t slowing down and neither are fraudsters. The kick-off to holiday shopping season is just a taste of what’s to come in the world of fraud.”

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