Almost three-quarters of online shoppers in the UK have abandoned their shopping over “basket anxiety”, new research shows.
According to a new Visa survey of 1000 online UK shoppers, 72 per cent have abandoned their shopping baskets on retailer websites and apps due to finding the payment process tedious or concerns over online security.
Of those who have abandoned their basket mid-purchase, 76 per cent cited concerns over sharing personal information with unfamiliar sites as a key reason.
Fifty-nine per cent also said that going through additional payment steps prevented them from completing a purchase.
Despite these concerns, data from IMRG-Capgemini shows that consumers spent a record-breaking £133 billion with online retailers in 2016 — £18 billion more than the amount spent online in 2015.
Visa also found that 66 per cent of millennials, those aged 18 to 34 years, now spend as much on websites and apps as on the high street.
READ MORE: Online retail sales smashes records in 2016
Nine out of 10 millennials have also made purchases using a mobile device, compared to a national average of just 67 per cent.
However, this younger group is also 10 per cent more likely to abandon an online purchase, with 82 per cent having done so.
In addition, 55 per cent of online shoppers said they would abandon home entertainment purchases — the most popular category for online retail — if they have to wait longer than five minutes, while 76 per cent give up if the purchase takes 10 minutes or more.
“The UK leads Europe in ecommerce sales, with mobile shopping in particular experiencing rapid growth,” Visa UK managing director Kevin Jenkins said.
“But, with so many consumers abandoning baskets during the buying process, there is a clear need for new, easy, secure ways to pay.
“Retailers who are able to address consumer concerns in relation to the security and convenience of the payments process will avoid losing out on sales.”
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