New independent research by MySiteChecker.com, in conjunction with Redshift Research, highlights a number of security concerns that consumers currently have about online shopping. The research, that surveyed 1000 consumers across the UK, found that 64% are unhappy about providing financial information online, whilst 47% are unhappy about buying a product online from a website/company they have never heard of. Furthermore, 45% are not confident they would be able to quickly and easily determine if a website is safe to submit personal information on.
The research findings demonstrate that there is currently a great deal of confusion amongst consumers when it comes to website security, with 91% of respondents saying more should be done to inform web users about which online security measures they should look for. Worryingly, despite the fact that a green address bar represents the highest level of website security, 71% are not sure what the green address bar actually means, whilst 52% have never even noticed their address bar turning green when shopping online. The padlock symbol on a website was the most popular security measure with 80% of consumers looking out for this. Yet in reality, according to MySiteChecker.com, the padlock symbol is the easiest element for fraudsters to dupe consumers with, as many are only looking to see the symbol displayed somewhere on the page – they are unaware that the official padlock will only ever appear in the browser bar.
The research also found that 74% of consumers are planning to purchase Christmas presents online this year, whilst 74% confirm that they are more likely to shop on websites that demonstrate the highest levels of security. However, 43% have abandoned their shopping basket in the past because the website requires too much personal information, whilst 39% have abandoned their shopping basket because of security fears.
Raj Sukkersudha, Managing Director of MySiteChecker.com, says, "The internet has transformed the way we do our shopping with more people going online than ever before. Unfortunately, fraudsters are forever targeting online shoppers and it can be difficult knowing when to trust a website. MySiteChecker.com has been launched to address this problem by giving shoppers the opportunity to do a free online site safety check before they disclose any financial or personal information. All a shopper needs to do is visit MySiteChecker.com and enter the name of the website they want to check. Within seconds, we'll be able to tell them whether it's a website they can trust."
Sukkersudha concludes, "The research findings clearly illustrate that there is so much uncertainty amongst shoppers on what is deemed to be safe. The padlock symbol on a website is the easiest security symbol to fake yet this is what the majority of people look for. And the green address bar is something that over half of respondents have never even noticed! Website security is of paramount importance to consumers but they need better guidance on what they should be looking for. MySiteChecker.com gives a helping hand to online shoppers and removes the guesswork around website security, meaning it is quick and easy for them to determine if a website is safe to shop on before they buy."
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