Revealing personal information still inhibits online shopping
Consumers enjoy the convenience of shopping on the internet but even in the United States, where shopping on line has been around for some time, people are still cautious. Many South African consumers share the same sense of caution when it comes to handing out personal information over the internet.
According to a *Pew Internet Project survey, released in February, 2008, most online Americans view online shopping as a way to save time and a convenient way to buy products. At the same time, most internet users express discomfort over sending personal or credit card information over the internet.
• 78% of online Americans agree that shopping online is convenient.
• 68% of online Americans say they think online shopping saves them time.
• 75% of Internet users agree with the statement that they do not like sending personal or credit card information over the internet.
John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project and author of the report, says, "These inconsistent notions about the online shopping environment show that... people's confidence in the security of online shopping remains as an issue... "
More specifically, the report says:
• If the three-quarters of internet users who agree that they don't like sending personal or credit card information online felt more confident about doing this, the share of the internet population shopping online would be 7 percentage points higher than the current average of 66%, or 73%.
• If those who disagree that online shopping is convenient felt otherwise, the share of the internet population shopping online would be 3 percentage points higher than the current average (or 69% instead of 66%)
• If those who disagree that online shopping saves time believed that they could save time by e-shopping, the share of the online population shopping online would be 2 percentage points higher than the current average (or 68% instead of 66%).
• Higher broadband deployment would also drive up the size of the e-shopper cohort by 6 percentage points.
Race, gender no influence
These estimates above are independent effects, notes the report, showing the impact when the factors noted above, as well as other demographic and socio-economic impacts are held constant. The study finds that demographic factors such as race or gender have no significant impact on predicting levels of online shopping.
The report finds that two-thirds of online Americans have at one time bought a product online, and estimates that the share of internet users buying products online could be as much as 3 percentage points higher, or 69% if online Americans did not have such high levels of concern about personal or credit card information on the internet. Low-income Americans are most likely to express concerns about providing personal information online, and least likely to see timesavings or convenience in e-commerce.
• Among home internet users with annual incomes below $25,000 annually, 44% strongly agree that they do not like sending credit card information online, twice the 22% share that strongly agrees that online shopping is convenient.
• For those in households with annual incomes above $100,000, 25% say they strongly agree that they do not like sending credit card information over the internet for online transactions, while 36% strongly agree that online shopping is convenient.
Horrigan said, "...many (low-income people) see risk in the world of e-commerce, not convenience, so they avoid online shopping applications that might help them manage their lives."
In broad terms, the report found that:
• The number of Americans who have ever bought anything online has more than doubled since 2000, from 22% in June 2000 to 49% in September 2007. That amounts to 66% of Americans with internet access who have bought products online.
• People are more likely to do background research on a product than execute the purchase online; some 60% of all Americans say they have used the internet for product-related research in September 2007, up from 35% who had done this in June 2000.
• Some 39% of Americans now say that they have used the internet for banking, up from 27% in February 2005.
• For online classifieds such as Craig's List, 24% of Americans report having used them in the September 2007 survey, an increase from 14% who said this in February 2005.
For additional information and access to a PDF file, visit PEW here.
*About PEW
The Pew Internet & American Life Project produces reports that explore the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. The Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the internet through collection of data and analysis of real-world developments as they affect the virtual world.
Article courtesy of http://publications.mediapost.com/
