For August, Online Spending Remained Strong While Small-Business Traffic Softened Slightly

Online sales in August were 34% higher this year than last, says Signifyd’s Pulse Report for E-Commerce, while small-business sales through August remained steady, finds the latest CardFlight Small Business Report.

San Jose, Calif.-based Signifyd Inc., a fraud-prevention company focused on e-commerce, says overall online sales growth reflects the fact that some categories had very high sales and others were below average.

Luxury goods, at 133% growth, and commodities and collectibles, at an 138% increase, were among the biggest gainers. Luxury-goods sales didn’t fare well early in the pandemic, so its growth now is notable, Signifyd says. The uptick in commodities and collectibles may reflect some consumer uncertainty “as a safe haven in uncertain times and because prices for some of the products that make up the category fluctuate in response to outside factors,” the report notes.

August traditionally is a big back-to-school spending month, but it’s possible the uncertainty about the school year—whether students will receive instruction in a school or at home—may temper that, Signifyd says. Back-to-school spending may be spread out over time rather than concentrated at the beginning of the school year.

In related news, point-of-sale specialist CardFlight Inc. said overall small-business sales remained strong in August. Its Small Business Report weekly analyzes transactions at more than 65,000 small businesses served by the New York City-based company.

For the week ending Aug. 30, sales volume was 26% higher than the baseline week of March 2-8. Card-present transactions increased 12.5% for the most recent week, down from 14.9% growth the week before. Card-not-present transactions increased 28.9%, down from 32.5% the week before.

For all of August, small-business sales were up 40.8% from March, down from a 45.6% growth in July.