These verticals are driving e-commerce growth
Overall e-commerce sales slightly rose year-over-year in April 2023, but some categories substantially overperformed.
According to April 2023 Signifyd E-commerce Pulse data, e-commerce sales rose 2% YoY, matching online buying patterns from March 2023, which saw the same increase, Signifyd data shows. Overall, product volume is down 1% YoY, average order value is up 2%, and the number of transactions, which were flat in March, rose 9% YoY.
For the second consecutive month, apparel, accessories and footwear led all e-commerce verticals in sales with an increase of 14% year-over-year (YoY). The subcategories of luggage and footwear were each up 33% and fashion rose 17%.
Online electronics sales were up 7% YoY, but sales in the consumer electronics subcategory, which includes smartphones and tablets, were down 7%. For the second consecutive month, sales of musical instruments –which Signifyd includes in the electronics vertical – rose significantly, up 56% YoY in April. Product volume in electronics rose 37% YoY in April, coupled with an average order value increase of 11%.
E-commerce verticals that saw YoY declines in sales included home goods (-8%), sporting goods (-6%), and health and beauty (-6%).
Fraud findings
Signifyd also tracks monthly fraud developments. Consumer abuse, or fraudulent attempts to get free items such as false complaints of damage or missed delivery, rose 232% YoY in the home goods sector in April. This was down from the 3,705% YoY home goods consumer abuse increase reported in March.
None of the other verticals tracked in the E-commerce Pulse recorded an increase in consumer abuse attempts. In fact, several showed a decline in YoY consumer abuse attempts.
Signifyd data also shows geo-spoofing, which occurs when a fraudster tries to mask the IP address from which an order originates to impersonate a legitimate account-holder, rose 122% YoY in home goods and 120% in health and beauty.
In addition, geo-spoofing attempts increased 170% YoY in sporting goods, down from a 638% YoY increase observed in March.
Adobe: Online prices fall in April
E-commerce sales showed growth in April even as online prices were declining YoY, according to the latest data from the Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI), based on Adobe Analytics. U.S. online prices in April 2023 fell 1.8% year-over-year (YoY), marking the eighth consecutive month of YoY price decreases.
The majority of categories (11 of 18) tracked by Adobe saw falling online prices on an annual basis. Notable drops occurred in categories such as appliances, which fell 7.1% YoY, the largest YoY drop for the category since Adobe began tracking online prices in 2014.