Annoying security measures cause shoppers to stop online transactions resulting in huge revenue losses for ecommerce companies, a new survey reveals.
Research conducted for Experian, the information services company, suggests just over £1bn of transactions are halted by shoppers every year concerned by old and inefficient identity measures.
A fifth of consumers abandoned buying altogether, resulting in lost revenues of £214m for UK retailers.
The study, carried out by the International Fraud Prevention Research Centre, reveals that 44% of UK shoppers have abandoned at least one online shopping transaction in the past year.
Many online shoppers become annoyed by the length and complexity of certain older forms of identity verification.
The report suggests that standalone systems drawing on single sources of information to corroborate identity information are the most vexing for customers.
In some cases, genuine customers have to make calls to contact centres, submit physical documents through the post, or even visit the store or branch to confirm identity – reducing the benefits of buying online.
“The UK’s lost billions from inefficient online identity and security measures is a price that doesn’t have to be paid given that technology now enables incredibly robust identity checks to be undertaken almost instantaneously, said Nick Mothershaw, director of identity and fraud at Experian.
Professor Paul Barnes, Director of the International Fraud Prevention Research Centre, said consumers often only had very limited toleration for delays in online buying.
“Depending on the reason for the identity verification check, our tolerance during a transaction varies greatly – and can be as short as a 60 second window,” he said.
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Looking at the checkout process is the most common request for our Usability studies team, this can substantially reduce cart abandonment.