McAfee, one of the world’s largest and most well-used providers of internet and computer security, has released a study demonstrating that it is the level of internet security which has the largest impact upon a consumer’s online shopping habits.

McAfee’s study, conducted by Harris Interactive, does not point to the dire economic environment of today as the main source of concern whilst shopping online.

McAfee Tim Dowling, vice president of McAfee’s Web Security Group, says that this distinction between economic anxiety and internet security worries should be made clear: “Our research suggests that economic concern and price have not affected the way people shop online, but instead security concerns are the driving force behind whether a transaction is completed or terminated.”

To resolve consumer concern over internet security, the McAfee study concludes that the use of trustmarks is a vital part of assuring customers their private details are safe. According to Harris Interactive’s research, 63% of those in the study would not purchase from a site which does not have a displayed trustmark or security policy. Customers believe so strongly in the trustmark system that, in McAfee’s study, one in five would not purchase from a website which did not display one.

These trustmarks have been proved to aptly demonstrate a website’s level of security. A recent Yankee Group whitepaper found that trustmarks, such as the ones used by McAfee SECURE, deliver some of the highest levels of protection. This protection is in turn reflected in the sales of a website. The whitepaper also showed that sites using a McAfee SECURE trustmark see a 12% increase in online sale conversions.

Not only can trustmarks help put consumer worries over safety at bay, but they can help smaller online companies stand shoulder to shoulder with larger retailers. If a smaller website displays a trustmark, this provides the smaller business with an important level of credibility. The McAfee study has even revealed that a third of participants said that they would prefer to buy from a smaller online business if it displayed a trustmark, rather than using a larger company.

McAfee SECURE provides top-class security to the vulnerable customers in question; their trustmarks are only given to websites which pass a multitude of daily tests that rigorously examine the reaction to potential threats. Alongside this, McAfee carries out daily network perimeter scanning and test to ensure spyware and malware is protected against, and conducts business practice review for website owners and online retailers.

Any site using McAfee SECURE can also demonstrate to potential customers PCI-compliance, which is the standard for the payment card industry. If a customer is using McAfee SiteAdvisor, then a site’s trustmark can appear next to the online retailer’s link in a search result. This gives them a way to stand out against others in a long list of results when a customer is searching for an e-tailer website.

Guest Article by Neil Camp