Press Stories Impacting UK Online Buying Habits

More precautions, focus on “name” retailers

READING, UK, 28th January 2008

In a survey undertaken by CyberSource Ltd last month, more than 1000 adults from across the UK were asked for their reaction to stories in the media about online fraud. The overall finding: the majority of shoppers are changing their behaviour as a result of media coverage of cybercrime. 54% of respondents who shop online say they now take more precautions when purchasing over the internet. 84% of shoppers know to look for signs that the page is secure before submitting personal and financial details. More than half (56%) of adults who buy over the web use a credit card rather than a debit card.

"As an industry we need to focus on educating the online consumer" commented Simon Stokes, managing director of CyberSource. "A significant percentage of cybercrime today can be avoided by relatively simple precautions such as never giving out personal information in response to an email. News stories today can and do cause alarm amongst consumers but if this is causing them to be more careful in their online buying, then the outcome is fine. We want eCommerce customers to be 100% familiar with the risks of shopping online, but we also hope they don’t forget its convenience and efficiency."

eCommerce does continue to grow at a remarkable pace, even in the face of online crime. UK online sales were estimated to grow 39% in 2007*, outpacing the US’s solid 20% annual growth rate**. More than 50% of consumers who responded to the survey say they have never shopped online, an indicator that the market is far from saturated. But fear of fraud continues to shadow the industry. 82% of online buyers say they will shop only with reputable name retailers—not an especially happy message for businesses just entering the field. Perhaps the most surprising finding: almost 4% of online shoppers say they have stopped shopping online as a result of stories in the media about fraud.

"We're pleased that the message is getting through to consumers about safe shopping online, but it is worrying that some people are sticking to the names they know, or going offline altogether," said Jo Evans, managing director of the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). "Better education is needed alongside initiatives like our Internet Shopping is Safe accreditation scheme, to give consumers peace of mind about online merchants."

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* Source: eMarketer, July 2007
** Source: The State of Retailing Online 2007, a Shop.org survey conducted by Forrester Research, Inc.

The Fourth Annual UK Online Fraud Report was sponsored by CyberSource Ltd.  The survey involved 165 UK-based businesses trading online, and 1002 randomly selected adults over the age of 16 from across the UK.  The research partner for the merchants was Vanson Bourne, and for the consumers, GfK NOP.  The consumer research was conducted entirely by telephone, and the merchant research used a mixture of telephone research and online questionnaires.

About CyberSource
CyberSource Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CyberSource Corporation (NASDAQ: CYBS). CyberSource is a leading provider of electronic payment and risk management solutions. CyberSource solutions enable electronic payment processing for web, call centre, and point-of-sale environments. CyberSource also offers industry leading risk management solutions for merchants accepting card-not-present transactions. CyberSource Professional Services designs, integrates, and optimises commerce transaction processing systems. Over 220,000 businesses use CyberSource solutions, including half the companies comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has sales and service offices in Japan, the United Kingdom, and other locations in the United States including Bellevue, Washington and American Fork, Utah. For more information, please visit the CyberSource Ltd web site at www.cybersource.co.uk or email uk@cybersource.com.

©2008 CyberSource Corporation. All rights reserved. CyberSource is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries. All other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.