This vertical drove May e-commerce growth

All e-commerce verticals had flat or negative year-over-year sales in May 2023 – except one.

According to the May 2023 E-commerce Pulse from fraud prevention solution provider Signifyd,  overall U.S. e-commerce sales rose 2% year-over-year, matching the trend observed in April 2023.

However, the only individual e-commerce vertical tracked by Signifyd showing an increase was apparel, accessories and footwear – which includes luggage. For the fifth consecutive month, apparel led all verticals, up 8% overall year-over-year in May. This figure includes increases in subverticals such as fashion (12%) and footwear (19%). Sales of the jewelry subvertical were down -6%, according to Signifyd. 

All other verticals were flat or down in May from a year earlier, which Signifyd analysis indicates might suggest that the trend of foregoing discretionary spending has become more of the norm. Online electronics sales were flat overall in May, though some categories in that vertical performed well – computer hardware sales rose 47% and musical instruments were up 59%, according to the study.

Key e-commerce sales trends for May

• Overall in May 2023, e-commerce product volume rose 6% and transactions were up 10%, year over year. Coupled with an average order volume increase of 3%, this indicates a trend Signifyd has seen throughout the recent fragile economic period of consumers paying less to purchase more items. This is helped in part when consumers purchase more low-ticket items and switch to generic from brand names.
• As in April, lower discretionary spending was evident in the May sales of three other major verticals tracked by Signifyd. Sales were down in home goods and in health and beauty (both -4%), and sporting goods (-1%). 
• In the health and beauty vertical, sales of cosmetics rose a healthy 12%, but the wellness and fitness category showed a drop of 20%, Signifyd data shows.
• Sporting goods sales, though down overall, were helped by a 309% increase in gift-card spending, though e-commerce sales in most categories other than bats and balls were hurting. Outdoor camping was down 8% and leisure 4%, according to Signifyd data. Product volume and the number of orders were both up in May, recording a 34% and 10% increase year-over-year, respectively, though average order value in sporting goods dropped 4%.
• In the home goods vertical, home improvement (-2%) and furniture and decor (-7%) online sales were both down, year-over-year.   

Online fraud booms 

Customer abuse — or false claims of packages never arriving or damaged goods showing up, for instance — soared in May, rising 217% from a year ago. Attacks on aged accounts, when fraudsters try to infiltrate customers' accounts that have lingered on the web, rose 144% overall from the prior year, with rises in bot attacks (217%) and device spoofing (101%) adding to the mix, Signifyd data shows. 

Health and beauty and electronics tracked the highest rise in aged account fraud pressure, up 158% and 123%, respectively, from a year earlier.

In comparison to other verticals, health and beauty had a relatively mild 60% rise in customer abuse in May, but was hit hard with bot attacks, up 552%, and with device and geo spoofing attempts, up 127% and 265%, respectively, from the prior year. These spoofing scams try to mask the instrument or IP address from which an order originates.