July 18 2008

Consumers highly security conscious

UK consumers are extremely security conscious and bigger brands are trusted more on the internet

According to PayPoint consumers are highly vigilant online shoppers as 98 percent of consumers admit to doing at least one security check on websites, and over 90 percent look at three or more security features, before clicking ‘pay’.

The survey also shows that consumers are highly conservative when shopping online, overwhelmingly shunning small online businesses in favour of bigger brands (97 percent). It suggests that more people would turn to small businesses if clearer guarantees of the security of their payment were visible.

According to the PayPoint.net survey, the most popular checks are:

• Padlock icon in the web browser (88 percent)
• Presence of UK contact address and phone number (85 percent)
• Clear refund and returns policy (85 percent)
• Logos of reputable payment providers, e.g. Verified by Visa (82 percent)
• Customer testimonials (54 percent)
• IMRG’s Internet Shopping Is Safe logo (50 percent)

In spite of this heightened security awareness, a worrying proportion of respondents (69 percent) admitted they could be won over by a well-designed site.

James Roper, CEO, Interactive Retail and Marketing Group (IMRG), adds: “It is surprising more people don’t gravitate towards smaller businesses, given the very advanced levels of security awareness uncovered by the survey. The paradox is that smaller companies’ security may well be better than that of their much larger rivals. We urge consumers to remain vigilant, whilst taking advantage of the better service, wider choice and lower prices which smaller online businesses can offer.”

by Marcus Austin (Web Editor)