Last month's Net.Matters' article, 'Tis the season to spend your lolly, we reported on statistics which predict an almost 60 per cent rise in online sales from last year (source: Forrester Research).
Given that so many consumers are looking to the internet for retail therapy does this mean that more of us are feeling more confident about website security? Latest figures appear to corroborate that theory. The IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), a body which actively promotes all areas of eCommerce has recently published its own findings as part of a joint venture with the market research firm, eDigitalResearch and Ipoints.
The table below compares figures from the second quarter of this year (June 07) to the third quarter (Oct 07). All categories are either showing the same percentage of people preferring to shop online or an increase which is heartening for online retailers. Whether these numbers will be affected given the recent HM Revenue and Customs breach of security remains to be seen.
Whilst more people are opting to shop online there are many who are dissatisfied with the standard of the shopping service. Most people are citing website security as their main concern when making transactions. This begs the question that if online shoppers' fears were allayed would this mean an even greater increase in those opting to shop online?
The survey conducted by the market research company, Harris Interactive for Tealeaf, a customer experience management provider interviewed 2,000 people in August and discovered that 86 per cent reported that the purchasing process did not run smoothly. This meant that nearly half of those online shoppers gave up completely. The knock-on effect means that as consumers, we then question the retailer's ability to keep our records confidential. Understandably we won't return to a website that can't successfully complete a transaction. Online security is one of the major issues we tackle here at MSO.net. If you have any concerns, please contact us for more information.
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