Customers are prepared to spend four minutes undergoing identity verification and other security checks before they abandon an online retail transaction.
That’s the findings of a study commissioned by global information services company Experian in conjunction with the International Fraud Prevention Research Centre, which reveals how time consuming identity and security procedures continue to be a source of frustration for consumers, and a cause of lost business for online retailers.
Forty-four per cent of respondents said they had abandoned an online shopping transaction because checks were taking too long, while 43 per cent admitted using a competitor after becoming frustrated with lengthy procedures.
Younger adults are the least patient, with 35 per cent of adults aged under 35 saying they had abandoned one or two transactions due to the length of security checks in the past 12 months alone, and 13 per cent admitting to having done so frequently.
This compares to 36 per cent and 10 per cent respectively of those aged 35-54, and 32 per cent and eight per cent of those over 55.
“Identity checks are in all our interests and necessary, however time consuming they appear at the time,” says Professor Paul Barnes, director of the International Fraud Prevention Research Centre.
“Not only do they protect the business from intrusion and fraud, but protect the consumer as well, reducing both security costs, which are passed on in the form of higher prices, and the chance of he or she being the victim of fraud.
“We all benefit and we are all safer.”
