Consumer Behavior

More consumers are shopping online but not many are feeling secure

Photo by istock.com

March 12, 2021

A good majority, 70%, of Americans are shopping online more today than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring of 2020, but only 38% feel very secure about online transactions.

That's according to a survey conducted by Eset, a cybersecurity company, that examined online shopping and cybersecurity habits of 2,000 consumers in the U.S. and 8,000 consumers across the U.K., Australia, Japan, Mexico and Brazil

The study found 44% expected to do more online shopping post-pandemic; however, 17% expect to do less, while 32% said their habits will not change compared to their current ones, according to a press release.

With regards to feeling confident and secure online, 87% feel secure, and 38% are "very secure." Among age groups, 18-24-year-olds feel the least secure, with 23% stating that they feel "not at all secure" or "not particularly secure."

"Our lives were becoming increasingly digitized even before COVID-19 hit and now, as we begin to enter a new phase of the pandemic, consumers will likely maintain much of the online habits they became used to during the lockdown, particularly shopping online," Tony Anscombe, chief security evangelist at ESET, said in the release. "With this continued reliability on using the internet for many of our daily routines, it is imperative that the devices and technologies we use to share our most sensitive information are protected to the highest standard and that people understand how to protect themselves."