••• financial services research
In mobile wallets they trust
Consumers across the globe are more concerned with protecting their financial and payments information stored on a computer than they are with protecting this data when stored on a mobile wallet, according to a study, Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions, from ACI Worldwide and Aite Group.
The study of more than 6,000 consumers across 20 countries revealed that only 43 percent of consumers trust businesses, including restaurants and merchants, to protect their financial data – while surprisingly, more than 80 percent of global consumers generally believe their mobile wallet data is secure.
Across all regions, the top security concern is theft by computer hacking. Global consumers are not confident in firms’ abilities to protect their stored data; only in the U.S., (54 percent), India (60 percent) and Thailand (51 percent) do consumers report at least 50 percent confidence that their stored data is well-protected. After experiencing fraud or a data breach, 65 percent of consumers indicated they would stop shopping with a given merchant.
Consumers are generally willing to interact with organizations to mitigate fraud, overwhelmingly preferring to engage with relevant organizations via mobile device. Three-quarters (75 percent) of consumers globally are very interested in receiving a call or SMS message to their mobile device to help mitigate fraud.
••• shopper insights
Online reviews retain their power
According to data from an online survey of 2,005 respondents conducted by San Francisco research firm Survata for SaaS platform Podium, Lehi, Utah, 82 percent of those surveyed indicated that the content of an online review has convinced them to make a purchase. Further, more than two-thirds of consumers (68 percent) are willing to pay up to 15 percent more for the same product or service if they’re assured they’ll have a better experience.
The survey, State of Online Reviews, also found that consumers aren’t just looking at the star rating, they’re actually reading and absorbing online reviews. Review content ranked as the most influential online review factor on whether a consumer would engage with a business.
Customers trust and regularly engage with online reviews. And they prove to be very influential: 93 percent of respondents said that online reviews have impacted their purchases. And yet, many businesses are missing out when it comes to engaging with customers and asking them to leave reviews. While data suggests that only 13 percent of SMBs ask customers for reviews, 77 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to leave an online review if prompted by a local business.