The Psychology of an Online Shopper: Why Merchants Must Prioritize Security

There's an undeniable convenience that comes with shopping online — a few clicks of a button and a parcel arrives at your doorstep the next day. The ability to be able to shop 24/7 saves consumers time and money, which online merchants can capitalize on by sending discounts direct to customers. However, while shopping online is arguably easier for consumers rather than facing busy in-store lines, fears over the safety of purchasing goods online continue to rise.

Consumers are becoming more security conscious when it comes to shopping online. Therefore, online retailers cannot afford to rest solely on their features and benefits, ignoring consumer demand for enhanced safety. However, merchants are faced with the challenge of responding to customer demand and maintaining a secured environment, while fighting to attract loyal customers and keep up with the competition.

The reality is customers believe that they should be able to buy what they want, when they want and how they want. In fact, 50 percent of consumers will abandon a transaction if their preferred payment method isn't offered. Merchants want and need to attract new customers, therefore they must make it easy for consumers to purchase their goods online. They can help them do so by offering the right payment mix and minimizing the risk factor to ensure consumer trust.

Essentially, consumers only feel secure online when they recognize the payment methods offered to them. If not, consumers will abandon their shopping experience if they feel that the payment method, or even the payment process, isn't secure. Online retailers are currently on a slippery slope to security. They're struggling to find a balance between providing recognizable payment methods and a seamless shopping experience, while adhering to the needs of their range of customers from around the world.

It's essential that consumers feel secure throughout the online shopping journey to encourage spending. Merchants must tread carefully when choosing which payment methods to offer to their customers because if a customer's confidence is lost, merchants will ultimately lose out to competitors.

No matter which way you look at it, merchants are fundamentally struggling to get the balance right between customer experience and customer security. With commerce moving towards a customer-centric model, preserving customer trust by providing a seamless checkout process with safe and secure payment methods has become critical. Doing so helps business increase customer loyalty without the fear of losing out to their competitors.

Ronnie D’Arienzo is chief revenue officer at PPRO, a cross-border e-commerce payment solution.