Consumers still turned off from shopping online
Have you ever seen a bogus charge appear on your credit or debit card statement?
It happened to me about two years ago. Someone had used my card to purchase tickets to a Canadian theater. I disputed the charge with my bank and canceled the credit card, but it made me more cautious about making purchases online, because I suspect that’s where someone obtained my account number.
Although online shopping is more popular than ever, judging by the increase in online sales this holiday season, some 12 percent of consumers still don’t shop online partly because they worry about fraud and privacy, according to a recent survey by Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services and consulting firm. The other big detractor from online shopping is that consumers want to see the merchandise before they buy it, the survey found.
Of those 12 percent:
- 32 percent of consumers want to see the merchandise to avoid returns
- 26 percent of consumers are worried that their personal information will be used fraudulently
- 21 percent are concerned about the security of their credit or debit card accounts
- 20 percent believe shipping costs are too high
- 18 percent fear that their personal information will be sold to other retailers
For those concerned about their bank account information being stolen, there are alternatives. You might remember I reported that PayPal has come out with a prepaid Mastercard. Consumers buy the cards at CVS, Rite Aid and Dollar General stores, where they can load money onto the cards. PayPal has another service, Bill Me Later, which essentially allows consumers to buy online using a line of credit issued to them through Bill Me Later. That service is only available with participating online retailers, and it carries a 20 percent APR.
If you shop online do you take extra steps to protect your bank accounts? If you don’t shop online, why not?
January 7, 2013 - 5:00 AM
I can’t remember a more misleading headline. You posted ‘Consumers stilled turned off from shopping online’.
Then, in the body of your post, you mention that only 12 percent of consumers do not shop online, and that there was an increase in online shopping this season – the percentage increase you neglected to mention.
If your question is about why consumers don’t shop online, I’d suggest the EZ Button headline of ‘Why don’t you shop online?’ would actually address the topic more accurately than your current headline that infers customers are NOT shopping online very much which is obviously extremely inaccurate. It’s an easy edit.
FTR, I’ve shopped online for over a decade without incident. Also FTR, I tend to be more suspicious of waitstaff in restaurants who are gone suspiciously long times with my credit card, or of sales clerks who ‘just need to check something’ while in possession of my card. Thieves don’t exclusively exist online. How about a report on the percentages of credit card fraud perpetrated over the phone or in person vs those done online? If the ratio is still 88-12, how will the headline read?
Make sure you purchase online from only secure websites – it takes literally one second to do so, and is so simple the explanation would be like how to brush your teeth. Try to use secure pay methods. Check your banking accounts on a regular basis. The last two ‘hints’ apply to everything from buying gas at the pump to withdrawing money from an ATM.
Looking at the ‘concerns’ listed above, they are somewhat humorous. I’ll grant the first, though I wonder how many people have purchased boxed items at their local retailer without opening the boxes to peer inside. If you buy a toaster at WalMart, do you remove it from the box while in the checkout line? If you buy a big screen TV from Best Buy, do you open the box then remove the TV (and styrofoam) before loading it into your car? Ever purchase furniture from the local supplier and carry it out of the store yourself? Or do you have it delivered and ‘risk’ having it returned?
The 2nd & 3rd ‘concerns’ were already addressed as being no different from shopping in person. The 4th concern? How about factoring in the shipping costs vs. sales tax? How about the preponderance of free shipping online?
Lastly, for those ‘concerned’ that their information will be sold to other retailers? Have you ever ‘subscribed’ for any regular emailings” Ever signed up for discount cards at the grocer? Ever filled out a chance for a free vacation? Ever given one of your utilities your phone number or email over the telephone? Same deal.
I too have been making major purchases on line for a decade with complete satisfaction. You do have to use caution with any purchase – online or otherwise. The only fradulent purchase made on one of my cards was made after I used this card for one and only one use to rent a truck at a local establishment.
crooked road – you have too much time on your hands. chill out.
I have to agree with cr on the points raised. When we shop online, we try to limit it to well-known retailers and sites, using only secured transactions…through places like Amazon, Best Buy, Lowes, Staples, Walmart, etc. A couple times we’ve bought items from other sellers using a designated card in case something weird goes on, but we’ve yet to encounter odd transactions.
The site-to-store options for most retailers who have both online and brick & mortar operations is a great option…since I drive past nearly every one of them on my way home from work for easy pickup. And, the free shipping to our house for a lot of items, especially from Amazon, is a great saver on money because we often don’t have to make additional trips to a store for an item…saving a good $5-10 each time.
Sales taxes are moot now, because I’ve noticed that it’s pretty much being charged on all online transactions we’ve made recently…and if it’s not universally applied yet, I believe the state law is changing in that regard soon.
Ate at Bonefish in Charlottesville over the weekend and it was great. Talked to the managers there and they reported Bonefish to open here in 2013 at Tanglewood!! YA BONEFISH IS COMING!!!!!!!!SEE WHAT MORE YOU CAN FIND OUT AMANDA!!
I understand my parents’ generation being leary (and mine are lol) of using their personal information online (I’m 43 for the record). However I have been shopping online for over 15 years. I have only had to close a card once because of fraud. The card company handled everything and there was no cost to me. I understand there is a risk (as with anything in life), but I too have heard more horror stories of people having their information stolen when using their card at a local establishment.
I only shop online at retailers with good track records and have easy and fair return policies. I’m less worried about shipping costs because the major reason I shop online is most of what I/we buy, you can’t get locally. This is especially true during Christmas.
@Chris: You are the second reader to report hearing that from a manager at another location. I’ve left a message with Bloomin’ Brands (the company that owns Bonefish Grill). If I hear anything I will post it to the blog.
I’ve been shopping online for 10 – 15 years. Probably 90% of my shopping goes through Amazon. I have a friend that is afraid of online shopping yet has no problem writing personal checks. Essentially giving everyone his check account number and routing number. I would never use a debit card. Always a credit card. With a credit card bad things can’t happen to your money and the credit card companies will take care of any issues.
Returns can be an issue if you’re not careful. Many online vendors charge a re-stocking fee (often 15-20%), and only a handful will cover the return shipping if it’s not a defective item. I usually research my purchases pretty carefully, but recently I had to return an item; the combination of shipping and fees cost me half of the original price!
By contrast, most brick-&-mortar retailers will accept returns in person with no fees, as long as you have the receipt.
SDC – Do you possess any thoughts about the topics you’d like to share? Have you ever shopped online? Do you understand ‘how it works’? Do you fear it? If so, why? What are the precautions that you personally use in the use of your credit or debit cars in everyday life? Do you pay cash for everything? Do you ever write a check outside of mailing bill payments via mail? How do you safeguard your security when doing so? I’d love to hear your input, and I ignore your insults.
Bottom line – time to step up.
I bought a pair of boots on Zappos yesterday afternoon and they’re on my porch right now – free. Is there some risk to shopping online? Maybe, but probably not much more risk than getting mugged in the mall parking lot or having a signal light cracked. But I’m probably one of the few people who prefers shopping and parking downtown to dealing with the parking lot at VV. Trying to get to Cheddars once, I felt like a mouse in a maze.
I’m 64 years old and have been shopping online for years with only one negative incident that I can remember and that was with a small online retailer. My account was credited by Visa.
Online shopping has many advantages over local shopping. Better inventory, lower prices, no frustration or driving. Customer reviews and product research are available. Rarely have I received an item that required return. All major web sites have secured shopping cart connections, I pay with PayPal if available or Visa if not. We still shop at local stores for most clothing, grocery and some boxed items if it’s what we want and the price is competitive.
We’ve returned a few items we bought online…through Amazon the process has been easy, and quick…and free. The other returns for online purchases I made we had to pay for shipping and re-stocking for some computer parts from small retailers in Vancouver and Chicago. It stunk losing about $40 on the transactions for determining that the laptop computer I was working to fix had a defective motherboard video processor instead of a bad inverter board, cable, or LCD panel…but the cost was still less than an hour of labor getting it diagnosed…so I didn;t consider it a true loss.
We write 1 check a month for our water bill, since they charge a $3 processing fee for online transactions…but everything we do is electronic otherwise…and I’m growing more and more fond of online buying because of the selection, price advantages (uaually…it pays to check multiple sites), and saving on gas for driving…because nothing has been more frustrating than driving to physical store locations to look for something, only to find they don’t stock the item.
The one negative transaction I can think of was buying a mini fridge from Walmart.com. I had it delivered to the store, but while in transit, the fridge got damaged. They realized it immediately and notified me of the problem, and refunded the purchase price. I would have prefered the option to have another one sent, instead of the automatic refund…but I appreciated that they rejected the item when they saw it was not in acceptable condition.
I think many consumers fear online purchases due to potential idenity theft and or bogus charges appearing om their credit cards after tranactions. Liflock does the most comprehensive monitoring of your public records and all credit card exchanges when you register should decide to enroll.Most reputable retailers have secure sites that are fortunately not hacked by scammers.It’s fortunate we can have local retail therapy or select online purchases with the retailers in our nation.Pick your passion wisely.
Chris:
I understand your excitement. I posed the same question a while back. Guess the company keeps it’s plans under wraps. As far as seafood goes, I have NEVER had any better. It is worth the drive as far as I am concerned but having one in Roanoke would be TOPS! Let’s remain hopeful!