Reports: More people shopping, but more fraud, too

Breaking down the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, shoppers spend $4.2 billion on Black Friday and $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday; there are thus far been more than 9 shopping days that surpassed the $1 billion mark.
 
According to Fluent's new survey of shoppers from the holiday weekend, nearly half (42%) say they haven't yet begun shopping. This could spell a happy holiday, indeed for merchants and brands. Fluent's data further shows that more than one-third (44%) of shoppers are buying on retailer websites and that about 10% have been influenced to buy because of Facebook and Instagram posts.
 
The increase in digital purchasing for the holiday may not be a good thing for everyone, however. Iovation has released new data that indicates digital fraud is also on the rise. According to their report over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend fraud jumped by about 60% (2017 vs 2019), with Black Friday capturing the lion's share of fraudulent purchases.
 
Most of the bad buys originated in China with many of those coming from mobile devices.
 
"Year after year it becomes clear that when not at work, consumers increasingly prefer using their mobile devices to make retail purchases due to their convenience," said iovation's Senior Director of Customer Success, Melissa Gaddis. "Once at work when they're at their desk, consumers turn to their desktop and laptop computers to make purchases."
 
"This data unfortunately reinforces the fraud fears that consumers expressed in our recent survey," said TransUnion Senior Vice President of Business Planning and Development, Greg Pierson; iovation is a TransUnion company. "Among the conclusions from TransUnion's 2019 Holiday Retail Fraud Survey: nearly half of all consumers, 46%, are concerned with being victimized by fraudsters this holiday season with baby boomers being the most concerned of any generation at 54%."
 
The biggest suspected fraud days include Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving Day, with between 17% and 21% of purchases suspected of being fraudulent.
 
More data from iovation's report can be accessed here.

Tags: 2019 holiday shopping, ecommerce, Fluent, iovation, m:commerce, social commerce, transunion