McAfee study: online security fears affect online shopping

The economic downturn has not affected the way consumers shop online, according to a study released today by McAfee, Inc., the world’s largest dedicated security company, and conducted by Harris Interactive®. 72% of consumers said the economy has not changed the way they shop online. Instead, fears about online security and personal information are the biggest drivers behind terminated online sales. Nearly half of consumers have terminated an order or abandoned their shopping cart due to security fears. Even in an attempt to get a good deal, 63 % won’t purchase from a Web site that does not display a trustmark or security policy. There are a growing number of consumers that now demand trustmarks and refuse to shop on sites that don’t display them. Only one in five consumers refuse to purchase from a site that does not display a trustmark. To assuage consumer fears, e-tailers can prove their security measures and build trust with consumers by displaying a trustmark; in fact, about 60 % of consumers feel safer when shopping on sites with a trustmark. More than 90 % of consumers are concerned about their security when shopping on new or unknown Web sites, and 47 % of consumers look for trustmarks to feel safe when shopping on a lesser known site. By displaying a trustmark, the lesser known site can prove credibility to potential customers and gain market share from larger sites. In fact, one-third of consumers would rather buy from a smaller Web site with a trustmark than a larger, more well-known e-tailer. A recent Yankee Group whitepaper found that trustmarks, like McAfee SECURE™ with daily vulnerability scanning, deliver the highest level of protection, compared to reputation, privacy and SSL trustmarks. On average, sites that utilize McAfee SECURE services see a 12% increase in online sales conversions, and the trustmark is used by more than 14,000 e-tailers. With the McAfee SECURE service, e-commerce merchants can also demonstrate PCI-compliance, the standard for the payment card industry.