Online shoppers in the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia identified safety and security as primary concerns for electronic and mobile commerce, according to a survey.
In a report by end-to-end transaction guarantee platform Vesta, it revealed that consumers seek solutions that can enhance protection against fraud when making their online purchases.
“Our survey has revealed that safety and security remains a top concern among online shoppers and there is an unspoken expectation of merchants to put in place the right solutions,” Vesta Asia Pacific General Manager Shabab Muhaddes said.
Citing a report, Vesta noted that one in three Southeast Asian consumers was victimized by digital fraud amid the surge of online shopping and internet activity in pandemic.
Account sharing, the fraud management firm noted, increases the likelihood of online fraud for the consumers.
As such, the survey found out that 68 percent of the Filipino consumers do not share retail account; the figure is higher for Singapore at 81 percent. The survey in Indonesia, however, revealed that 57 percent of the online shoppers share retail accounts with family or friends.
Other cybersecurity risks cited by Vesta include account takeover, identity theft and account compromise.
Vesta Philippines Country Director James Melon said that the majority or 73 percent of the local online shoppers even look into past reviews to gauge the level of security of an online site.
“There is a need to work closely with merchants to strengthen its fraud identification capability to improve overall customer journey and trust, as well as the merchants’ reputation. This will help drive further growth in the Philippines’s e-Commerce hotbed,” Melon added.
To better handle cybersecurity, Muhaddes previously told the BusinessMirror that the companies need to understand the fraud and acceptance rates, which a technology partner can help them with.
“Work with technology partners that can calibrate in real-time between good and bad transactions, drawing on trillions of data points, leveraging behavioral, device, and fraud link analysis to improve performance,” he explained.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the respondents dealt with payment concerns in the last 12 months, Vesta said.
The top concern across all payment methods is multiple verification and authentication, one in three of respondents citing it. This is followed by declined payments without valid reasons, which was the experience for 22 percent of the surveyed consumers.
Vesta explained the mentioned cases may cause payment friction, which can drive customers away.
“Payment friction can frustrate customers who already buy from multiple brands and will not hesitate to shop at another site that offers a smoother online shopping experience,” the fraud management firm said.
In fact, the survey showed that almost six in 10 online shoppers across the three countries would cancel their purchase if there were a problem during the transaction.
Over 50 percent of the consumers that experienced payment problems will also warn their family and friends about the online merchant. Vesta stressed this will lead to further losses on the part of the business.
“Overall, the results of this survey indicate an obvious and urgent need for sophisticated solutions that offer a better protection against fraud, drive higher approvals while enabling a seamless consumer payment experience,” Muhaddes said.
The survey has over 4,300 respondents across the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.