Report: Two-Thirds Of Digital Shoppers Will Bolt If They Feel Unsafe Online

The economy that has emerged in the wake of the pandemic is driven by digital commerce, and online platforms play no small role in driving that change. Digital platforms like Amazon, Uber Eats, Etsy, Shopify and countless others have become many consumers’ go-to for retail purchases, grocery shopping, food orders and more, with 48 percent of consumers saying they engage with such platforms more often now than they did one year ago.

There is nevertheless a hitch in this increasingly platform-driven digital ecosystem, however: data security. Consumers express a great deal of concern about the security ramifications of providing their personally identifiable information (PII) to access the digital platforms that have become central to their everyday lives. Forty-nine percent said they are either “very” or “extremely” concerned and as much as 89 percent said they are at least “somewhat” concerned about doing so – despite the fact that many platforms rely on such data to power the smooth, convenient purchasing experiences that give them their competitive edge. Just how deep do these data security concerns run, and what can platforms do to alleviate consumers’ fears about sharing their PII online and boost engagement?

The Privacy Paradox: Securing Data To Build Customer Engagement, a PYMNTS and Very Good Security collaboration surveyed a census-balanced panel of 2,257 U.S. consumers about how their of use online platforms has changed during the past 12 months and the security concerns they have when it comes to providing their PPI to enable their platform experiences.

Our research shows that shoppers’ data security fears have very real ramifications for digital platforms. Not only would 57 percent of platforms users be “very” or “extremely” likely to leave their platforms for competitors over security concerns, but 65 percent of all consumers say that they would not even finish creating an account if a security red flag arose during sign-up.

This spells trouble for digital platforms, which often require consumers’ sensitive personal and payment information to provide the easy, seamless purchasing experiences customers have come to expect. Seventy percent of consumers say they would be only “slightly” or “not at all” willing to provide this type of information to digital platforms they have never used before. Many market players, therefore, face an uphill battle wooing new potential customers.

The Privacy Paradox: Securing Data To Build Customer Engagement details what digital platforms need to know about what consumers expect from them in terms of handling their PPI and how they can ensure that they are hitting the mark on their customers’ data security expectations.

To learn more about the importance that digital security plays in driving digital platform engagement, download the report.