Since it became evident that the measures implemented at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in a huge surge of online commerce, observers have been wondering if it would last. Or, would growth in e-commerce transactions and spending, which had been rising at a slower rate steadily for years, slip back to pre-pandemic levels?
It appears that consumers are staying online, according to a new report from Experian.
The report found nearly half of all consumers (49 percent) shop or bank online regularly. Experian said online activity increased 25 percent since the beginning of the pandemic and that e-commerce is holding on to those gains.
“For the past 12 months, we've monitored the significant and sustainable shift toward e-commerce and digital financial services,” said Steve Wagner, global managing director of Decision Analytics for Experian. “The increase in digital activity has remained persistent, and consumers are staying online even with the return of physical shopping and banking.”
Other key findings from the report include:
- 65 percent of businesses plan to increase their fraud detection budget, up 8 percent from a year ago
- 59 percent of businesses globally say they’re mostly or completely recovered from the pandemic
- 60 percent of businesses plan to increase their budget for credit risk analytics, up 5 percent from a year ago
- Adoption of AI has risen from 69 percent to 74 percent and machine learning from 68 percent to 73 percent in one year
