As we become farther and farther removed from the pandemic conditions of 2020, the effect lockdowns had on consumer behavior in e-commerce—and which have persisted—has become easier to see. A recent report shows how prominent e-commerce became during the pandemic and how increased fraud is affecting that newfound adoption.
According to the State of Consumer Attitudes on E-Commerce, Fraud & CX 2021 from antifraud technology provider ClearSale, 13 percent of consumers polled made their first-ever e-commerce purchase between March 2020 and March 2021. And, among those who were previous e-commerce users, 78 percent said they increased how frequently they shopped online.
Fraud, as always, was a double-edged sword for consumers. Eighty-two percent of those polled said they wouldn’t shop with a merchant again if they experienced fraud on that retailer’s website or app. But they also won’t stand for merchants questioning the legitimacy of their transactions. Forty percent said they would never shop with a merchant again if their transaction was falsely declined.
“Whether it was necessity or convenience, there’s no denying that the events of the last few years have made consumers more comfortable shopping online,” said Rafael Lourenco, executive vice president and partner at ClearSale. “But that doesn’t make a retailer’s job easier - in fact, quite the opposite. For instance, protecting customers from fraud while ensuring that legitimate purchases go through is a tall order, but failing to do so can really hurt a brand’s reputation.”
