With the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, consumers began shopping online due to preference and necessity. With that transition to delivery versus in-person shopping, consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about online transactions have increased to record numbers.
The FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight shows that in April and May, more than 34,000 complaints from consumers were reported related to online shopping. More than 18,000 of those complaints related to items that were ordered but never delivered. The most common item reported not delivered was facemasks, with other reports including sanitizer, toilet paper, thermometers, and gloves as not received.
While online shopping complaints to the FTC have been on the rise for a number of years, reports of unreceived items in May 2020 alone represent a nearly two-fold increase over the number of reports in December 2019, the heart of the busy holiday shopping season.