Almost a quarter of shoppers regularly opt to ‘checkout as guest’ when making online purchases over concerns about the handling of their personal data, according to a report from commerce search and discovery platform Empathy.co.
A survey of 4,000 UK online shoppers, carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Empathy.co, found that 22% of consumers use guest accounts to purchase goods online to avoid handing over their personal data. The survey also revealed that nearly half of consumers prefer to shop with brands they trust, while 20% are more willing to share personal information and 22% are willing to spend more with said brands.
“With the global pandemic forcing the majority of consumers to shop online, there has been a surge in demand for privacy, security and a clear increase in fears over data security,” said Angel Maldonado, Empathy.co CEO.
“In fact, data privacy is of such importance in today’s climate that just promising to not misuse data is no longer enough, and brands need to show that they’re behaving ethically and that they are using customer data responsibly.
“Therefore, improving digital experiences and ecommerce platforms so that they are transparent and act with customer care in mind is imperative to improving brand power and showcasing trust.”
40% of respondents said they don’t like being asked for data they feel is unnecessary or sensitive and 28% would actually like to take back the information they had provided to brands they don’t like or trust if they could.
At the same time, 42% of online consumers are careful when providing personal data and accepting legal notices, while 37% would appreciate more control of their data that’s on the databases of businesses.
Interestingly, only 10% of respondents like when businesses remember their tastes and preferences via cookies and just 13% have no concerns about how their data is used.
When asked specifically about the biggest tech players, 18% believe the purpose of Facebook is just to spy on people and sell ads. And 12% feel that Amazon consciously make cheap copies of the top-selling third-party products on its platform.
