News

April 19, 2013

One in four doesn’t trust online retailers

New surveys have highlighted the difficulties that online retailers have gaining the trust – and business – of customers.

The findings show that today's shoppers are more likely than ever before to abandon purchases and switch suppliers.

According to research commissioned by IT specialist Redwood Software, 72% of shoppers leave online marketplaces because they can't easily find what they are looking for. And two-thirds of consumers said they had terminated online purchases because they took too long (66%) or were too complicated (60.8%).

Meanwhile, new research conducted by Populus for Ukash, the online cash payment provider, has found that 46% of online shoppers feel frustrated by security questions when making purchases on the internet. And 39% have abandoned an online transaction because they thought they were being asked for too much personal information.

Ukash marketing director, Miranda McLean, said: "Whilst there's a recognition that the information is needed to protect consumers, there's also a fear that being asked too much might actually be putting them at more risk."

In another survey, conducted by information security compan, Integralis, one in four respondents said they didn't trust any company to secure their personal information online. It found that 65% of the 1,000 UK consumers surveyed trusted banks to look after their personal information online. However, the "trust factor" dropped to 36% for online retailers. In addition, social networks topped the list of "least trusted organisations" in the survey, chosen by 32% of respondents.

Mick Ebsworth, information security consulting practice director at Integralis, said: "What businesses should be concerned about is this intrinsic lack of trust by customers in online companies they are using on a regular basis. As we increasingly play out our lives on the Internet, whether it's banking, shopping, payments or social networking, organisations need to build information security into the DNA of their business."

The Redwood Software findings are presented in an infographic here.