In retail, the biggest risks often hide in plain sight. Take for example, when a consumer from one of your key audiences – a student or nurse or first responder – sees your offer tailored for them and wants to redeem it on your website. This is an exciting moment for the individual and an opportunity for you to create a connection and build brand trust.
But many retailers underestimate the impact of the consumer experience and undermine this value exchange moment by rerouting potential customers off-site to a third-party verification platform prior to the offer redemption. At first glance, that decision seems practical and benign. But in a time where friction can kill conversions and consumers are worried about data privacy, it’s a critical misstep.
“Verifying a customer for their exclusive offer should reinforce the brand relationship, not disrupt it,” says Stephanie Copeland Weber, CEO, SheerID. “Sending customers off-site interrupts the experience, which can reduce conversions and impact customer lifetime value. And it can increase compliance risk and damage a customer’s trust in your brand.”
Let’s examine why off-site verification is a mistake you can’t afford and what you can do instead:
Three ways off-site verification can hurt your brand
Friction in the verification process lowers ROI
Redirecting a consumer away from your website is like walking them to your store’s exit and holding the door open for them as they leave.
When a shopper/buyer has to visit another website to get verified, it adds extra steps that increase friction, which can dramatically lower conversions and reduce your ROI. Research from the Baymard Institute reveals that the average cart abandonment rate is 70 per cent, and that friction during the checkout or verification process is a leading cause.
What’s more, you’re essentially paying for a consumer you’ve already acquired. All the hard work and money spent on organic traffic to your site is undermined when you send a customer elsewhere. You’ve done the heavy lifting of getting them to your virtual doorstep, only to hand them off to a third-party while paying commission on ‘acquiring’ that customer.
“When you drive customers off your website, you lose revenue, not because they didn’t want your offer, but because redeeming it was too frustrating and time-consuming,” says Copeland Weber.
Poor data protection can increase security risks and decrease brand trust
Every time you redirect an individual off-site to get verified, you’re creating a new data exchange, which exposes your brand to risks that can cost you money. According to the 2024 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a breach in retail is $3.36 million (£2.51 million).
Mishandling customer data can trigger General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) penalties. But it can also cause irreparable damage to your brand perception because consumers are highly concerned about their data privacy. A 2025 Thales Digital Trust Index found that only 34 per cent of consumers trust brands to use their data responsibly.
When it comes to verifying personal information, that concern deepens. According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer Report, 52 per cent of consumers said a poor verification experience causes them to lose trust in a brand. And the recent cyberattacks on brands like Marks & Spencer, The North Face, and Cartier underscore that unexpected redirects raise red flags and can leave customers worried about who has access to their personal data.
“Every additional touchpoint in a verification process adds complexity and increases the chances of non-compliance, data mishandling, and security gaps,” notes Copeland Weber. “Consumer trust is fragile, and a sudden redirect can feel jarring, even suspicious.”
Off-site verification weakens the brand-customer relationship
Verifying a consumer’s eligibility for your exclusive offer creates an emotional connection with them because it underscores that the offer is explicitly for their group, which demonstrates how much you value them. Outsourcing that process can undermine that exchange because it exposes your customer to another brand’s messaging and experience. It also risks having your customer associate the benefit of receiving your offer with another company, robbing you of the credit and the connection.
Keeping the verification process in-brand can make your offer more profitable. According to Marq, consistent branding across platforms can increase revenue by up to 20 per cent.
“When verification occurs on another website, you cede control of the experience and the joy it brings your customer to another brand, which can reduce the impact of your offer,” adds Copeland Weber.
On-site verification drives revenue, trust, and engagement
Every interaction a brand has with their customer is a way to build trust and engagement through transparent and secure opt-in experiences. Integrating in-brand verification into your process:
- Streamlines the experience, which reduces friction and drives conversions.
- Reduces compliance risk, improving data security and brand trust.
- Gives you full control over the customer experience, which enables you to create an emotional connection with your customers that facilitates their loyalty.
“Building a direct relationship with your customers is essential to increasing their lifetime value,” Copeland Weber concludes. “Investing in a seamless, in-brand verification process enables you to leverage the full power of your exclusive offers to grow your business and win and retain your key customers.”
Learn more about how SheerID helps you own the verification experience, gain deeper customer insights with permissioned data, and deliver a seamless on-brand experience. Visit sheerid.com or schedule a consultation.
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