UK consumers would willingly spend up to 44 per cent more on average with a retailer they already trust; while 77 per cent would completely abandon a purchase if the checkout experience is too complicated.
The data comes from fraud prevention technology provider, Forter, which has launched its first annual ‘Consumer Trust Premium Report‘ research, analysing the relationship between consumer shopping habits, their experiences, and brand trust, as we approach the Christmas shopping period.
Forter revealed that UK consumers are willing to spend significantly more on average with a retailer they trust, highlighting the importance of investing in building customer trust and long-term loyalty – particularly as economic conditions worsen in the region.
Despite this, UK consumers also revealed that false declines are becoming a significant problem: impacting this very important factor of trust. This emerged as especially true among younger consumers, who already trust online retailers less than older age groups.
On average, retailers wrongly declined around 35 per cent of the consumers shopping online in the UK, in the last three months alone. While each generation does between 44 to 63 per cent of their shopping online, the rate of false declines disproportionately rises to 42 per cent among Millennials and 60 per cent among Gen Z respondents. For context, retailers falsely declined only 10 per cent of Baby Boomers and 24 per cent of Gen X in the same period.
These problems are compounded for younger respondents, as 93 per cent of Gen Z had also experienced a negative online shopping experience in the last three months – compared to a 73 per cent average across all age groups.
They emerged as four times more likely than older shoppers to have had personal information compromised in a data breach. In response, 89 per cent of all UK respondents want their personal data better protected during the checkout process.
Consumer and retailer trust is a two way street
While customer trust is wavering, Forter reveals that the real issues stem from a lack of trust from retailers. Too many retailers are unable to accurately assess the trustworthiness of the consumers visiting their sites, resulting in unnecessary friction and lost revenue.
It explained that for every $1 retailers lose to fraud, they forfeit $30 by declining legitimate consumers – all due to a lack of trust.
While UK consumers – especially younger ones – have been remarkably forgiving of negative experiences to date, there is a clear opportunity for retailers to improve performance before patience runs out.
Michael Reitblat, chief executive officer and co-founder of Forter, explained: “Our report reveals the brands that win the next generation of shoppers will provide fast, frictionless and fraud-free shopping experiences — and establish a mutual trust with their consumers.
“Many retailers can’t accurately assess the trustworthiness, and identity, of customers visiting their sites and in turn their fear of fraud leads to unnecessary friction, cart abandonment, false declines, and lost revenue.
“But this situation doesn’t have to continue unchecked. Balancing the importance of fraud prevention without impacting customer experience will be the next major test for retailers during the upcoming holiday shopping season.”
The rewards for getting it right will be considerable, so retailers must invest in solutions that more accurately identify younger consumers so they can establish mutual trust with this high-value cohort to secure future relationships and revenues.
Conducted by Opinion Matters in May 2023, the research surveyed 5,000 adults aged over 18 who have at least two active e-commerce accounts and shopped online at least once in the last three months in the UK, USA, Germany, Singapore and China. 1,000 consumers were based in the UK.
