In the vortex of a looming economic crisis, UK consumers exhibit a poignant shift in their online shopping experiences and brand trust, a Forter study has found.
Alarmingly, over the past quarter, 73% of UK consumers have encountered a negative online shopping experience. These unsavoury instances encompass an extensive range of issues including a 14% rate of false declines, 37% of purchases not arriving punctually, and 27% facing costly or complicated return policies.
Forter’s study underscores a vital concept, the “Trust Premium,” noting that UK consumers willingly spend an average of 44% more with retailers they trust. This premium is significantly substantial, potentially translating to millions in revenue uplift for retailers, especially during peak shopping periods such as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.
Michael Reitblat, chief executive officer and co-founder, Forter, revealed, “The Trust Premium represents potentially millions of pounds in revenue uplift for retailers.” He further remarked, “UK retailers that lean into and invest in customer experience – from account creation to authentication to checkout – are best positioned to turn a profit over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.”
Moreover, a staggering 77% of UK shoppers will abandon their carts if they perceive the checkout experience to be overly intricate or lengthy. This emphasises the precarious equilibrium retailers must navigate between ensuring secure transactions and providing a frictionless, trustworthy experience. Particularly, younger generations, such as Millennials and Gen Z, are more frequently encountering false declines, inadvertently driving them and their purchasing power away from online platforms.
Despite their burgeoning economic influence, Millennials are twice as likely, and Gen Z up to six times more likely, to experience false declines compared to Baby Boomers. This friction in the online shopping experience is notably damaging, given the criticality of securing the loyalty of the upcoming generation of consumers. In this context, retailers have to resolve a profound trust issue, especially considering the retailers often repel new yet credible customers simply out of unfamiliarity.
Forter pinpoints that false declines generally loom five to ten times higher than actual fraud rates. The data suggests that for every $1 lost to fraud, retailers inadvertently forfeit $30 by refusing legitimate consumers. This friction and subsequent cart abandonment, spawned from a fear of fraud and an inability to accurately gauge the trustworthiness of customers, casts a substantial shadow over potential revenues and customer relationships.
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