Phone and Mail Order Top Internet Preferred Shopping Medium

[This article appeared in the Monday, November 27, 2000 issue of TM Tipline,
a free weekly e-mail newsletter from the editors of Target Marketing magazine.]

A new study by MerchantOnline, a provider of secure real-time transaction services for e-tailers and consumers, found that shoppers prefer to shop off-line due to security concerns. Research conducted in mid-September for MerchantOnline by Bruskin Research showed that almost three in five Internet users express concern that their credit card number could be stolen when making purchases online. Additionally, almost a third are concerned about personal information being obtained from their credit card. The survey asked consumers with Internet access about their attitudes towards making purchases online and the new Electronic Signature Law. When asked which method they feel is most secure for credit card purchases, respondents overwhelmingly prefer the phone over the Internet by a three-to-one margin (61% vs. 20%), and prefer mail order over the Internet 55 percent vs. 28 percent. The phone was also preferred by a significant margin over mail order, 52 percent vs. 34 percent. "When it comes to purchasing goods and services on the Internet, people are genuinely concerned about the security and privacy of their credit card and personal information," says Tarek Kirschen, CEO of MerchantOnline.