Generation Y shops online but distrusts security integrity

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The study also shows that:

• 59% will share their email address to get discounts and sales notices.
  
• 65% rely on customer reviews for online shopping.
  
• But 82% do not trust most internet sites to keep data secure.

The results for South Africa are based on a survey commissioned by Cisco of 1800 Generation Y university students and young professionals, aged 18 to 30, across 18 countries. The report examines how this generation uses the Internet to connect with the world around them and reveals their behaviours, attitudes, issues, and concerns about the creation, access, management, and privacy of the enormous amounts of data being generated daily by smartphones, sensors, video cameras, monitors, and other connected devices.

Highlights/key facts

• Privacy versus coupons and discounts - nearly 60% of South African respondents are willing to share their email address with stores and online sites in order to receive notices about discounts and sales. However, a very small percentage of these consumers would be willing to share their phone number, home address or similar information.
  
• The importance of online reviews - 65% report using online reviews at least occasionally when making purchasing decisions. However of all the consumers surveyed worldwide, South Africans were found to be least likely to use online reviews prior to making purchases, as more than one third indicated they rarely or never do so.
  
• Tracking and analysing consumer activity - the growing interest and reliance on internet retail sites means that there is an increase in online data, presenting greater opportunities for marketing and sales campaigns that are based on analysing, correlating and cross-referencing consumer data. Retailers, both for retail stores and online sites, are adopting big data analysis at a rapid rate. Almost half of the South African respondents are conscious that many stores are likely to track and analyse customer activity and shopping habits, but most express their disapproval of the idea. A quarter of the respondents was unaware of such monitoring and expressed their distaste for it.
  
• Lack of Consumer Trust - although consumers love the convenience of online shopping, over four out of five Gen Y respondents, globally, stated that they do not trust most Internet sites to keep their private data safe.

"Online shopping has become increasingly popular in South Africa, however the country is only now catching up with the rest of the world and the findings of this research demonstrate this," says Alpheus Mangale, MD for Cisco in South Africa. "This shopping trend is set to grow from strength to strength given the increased convenience and flexibility it offers consumers. In order for South Africans retailers to be able to benefit even more, Cisco believes that the right network and technology infrastructure needs to be in place in order for them to fully take advantage online shopping."

Research background

The third in an annual series, the report was commissioned by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, an independent market research firm based in the US. The global study consists of two surveys: one focused on college students and workers aged 18 to 30 and the second focused on IT professionals. Each survey includes 100 respondents from each of 18 countries, resulting in a pool of 3600 respondents. The 18 countries include the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.