So what’s going on in the world of ecommerce?
Let SecureTrading keep you up to date…

"You've got three seconds, then I'm gone". That’s what new research exploring web site performance and its correlation with online shoppers' behaviour recently revealed. According to research conducted by Forrester Consulting in the US on behalf of content delivery network Akamai, impatient consumers will allow two seconds for the website’s pages to load before abandoning a retail or travel site. And the consequence for online retailers with under-performing sites is lost sales. As reported in Internet Retailing magazine, 79% of online shoppers who experience a dissatisfying visit are less likely to buy from that site again, up 17 percent from the 2006 study (see full story here).

Another thing online retailers need to consider is online shopping basket abandonment. According to new research by Amaze and the University of Glasgow 87% of consumers abandon online shopping baskets. However, the good news is that 75% of these consumers claimed they would return at a later date to complete the purchase.

The researchers even looked into the psychology of online shoppers and identified the personalities of three types of online shopper — vague, cost conscious and window shoppers. You can find more information regarding this by reading the full story here.

It has also been reported that firms are failing to treat card data seriously. Businesses are apparently putting customer credit card data at risk by failing to treat security as a top strategic initiative, according to a survey from the Ponemon Institute (see http://www.finextra.com/). The survey - conducted for vendor Imperva - of over 500 IT security staff at US and multinational firms found 71% of companies do not treat PCI DSS as a strategic initiative despite the fact three quarters have been hit by a data breach.

Furthermore, 55% admit to only securing credit card data and not sensitive information such as Social Security and driver's license numbers or bank account details.

But the good news is that online sales are still on the up! UK shoppers spent £3.8 billion online in August 2009, which is 16% higher than in August 2008, new figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal.

"The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal a 16% year on year growth for online spending, ahead of our 12% forecasts for the second half of the year," says Mike Petevinos, head of consulting for retail for Capgemini UK. "The key drivers of this growth are clothing, accessories and electricals. Consumers continue to see the benefits of greater choice, price competitiveness and convenience from buying online in these sectors. You can see the full story here.

Online overall seems to be dominating, with internet advertising predicted to take 15% of global ad spend in 2010 This is up from an anticipated 13 percent in 2009, according to a new GroupM study (see http://www.marketingweek.co.uk). Search is also on the up, growing from 38% share in 2006 to an anticipated 43% in 2010.

Please note: SecureTrading is not responsible for any external content.