Pandemic-driven economic and logistical concerns drove consumer sales and preferences in certain segments, according to data from one digital payment system.
Over the holiday shopping season from Oct to Dec last year, one digital payment system saw a 28% increase in buy now, pay later (BNPL) transactions compared to the same period in 2020.
As shoppers began their 2021 holiday shopping early in October due to pandemic-driven supply chain delays, ACI Worldwide data showed BNPL transactions peaking at around 43% in October.
The data also showed an increase of 14% in fraud attempts between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, with fraudsters targeting electronic items.
Key findings
Global e-commerce (merchants and payment methods)
- October 2021: Value of transactions increased 28% vs. Oct 2020 figures
- November 2021: Value of transactions increased 16% vs. Nov 2020 figures
- Dec 2021: Value of transactions increased 12% vs. Dec 2020 figures
BNPL
- Between October and December 2021 North America and Europe experienced a 31% increase in BNPL transactions compared to the same period in 2020.
BOPIS
- Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) adoption increased 68% from October to December 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
- October 2021 experienced a BOPIS peak at 99% compared to the same period in 2020.
Shipment cut-off
- As consumers aimed to get presents shipped on time, shipment cut-off transactions increased. In Europe, shipment cut-off priority experienced a 39% increase in volume of transactions compared to 2020.
- The platform’s consumers using mobile devices spent US$31 more than consumers using non-mobile devices.
Boxing Day (Europe)
- A 10.5% increase in volume of transactions was observed, with the average ticket value decreasing by US$17, likely driven by better deals, smaller basket values and clearance sales.
Travel and Ticketing
- Between October and December 2021 transactions in the travel and ticketing sectors went up by 99% compared to the same period in 2020, with November being the strongest month.
- Tickets for sports and entertainment events increased four times between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
- The travel industry’s special offers, including flexible booking and last-minute travel bookings, resulted in a 2.5x increase in travel packages.
- The increase in travel and ticketing purchases also drove up the average ticket price for fraud attempts in these sectors (ticketing: over US$220; travel: over US$132).
In addition, the platform’s data shows that consumers were increasingly interested in picking up their orders from in-store lockers as merchants adopt this fast and safer self-service method.
According to Debbie Guerra, head of merchant payments, ACI Worldwide: “Fraudsters followed the trends using tactics such as account takeover, synthetic fraud, and friendly fraud. Merchants and consumers must be more vigilant during peak (sales) seasons. Having fraud solutions in place that can easily detect a genuine transaction versus a fraudulent one is key.”
