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Over 90 percent of shoppers concerned about social media shopping

By Huw Hughes

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Retail

More than 90 percent of shoppers have concerns when it comes to shopping via social media, yet nearly one-third of them still use it as a shopping platform, new research reveals.

Payment security (59 percent), the quality of goods (56 percent) safety of their personal details (55 percent) and buying a fake product (47 percent), topped the list of shopper concerns in the report by Clarivate Analytics company MarkMonitor.

And those concerns might be well founded, with 31 percent of shoppers saying they have unwittingly bought a fake item online, and 23 percent of those consumers saying they purchased the product via social media.

What’s more, 63 percent of consumers say they don’t think enough is being done by brands, online marketplaces and social media platforms to protect them from counterfeiters, fraud and cyber criminals.

But consumers do have confidence in certain aspects of shopping via social media, the study reveals. Two-thirds (66 percent of shoppers) say they trust the information shown by shopping sites on social media while 30 percent are comfortable using their credit card to make a purchase.

Shoppers still wary about shopping via social media

Clothing, home accessories and electronic goods top the list of items shoppers are most happy to buy via social media, while products that shoppers say they would never buy via social media include jewellery (27 percent), a holiday (27 percent), health products (26 percent) and event tickets (24 percent).

Commenting on the figures in a statement, Chrissie Jamieson, VP of marketing at MarkMonitor, said: "With more people using social media and interest in it as a shopping channel on the rise, the number of purchases taking place over social media is likely to increase. Our research highlights that regardless of where they shop online, consumers are still being targeted by counterfeiters and are looking to brands and social media platforms to safeguard them.

"Organisations need to ensure they incorporate social media platforms in their online brand protection strategies to protect shoppers and their own reputation. Many social media platforms already have mechanisms in place to guard against the sale of the counterfeits and are constantly improving ways to detect and report fakes, but it's clear that consumers feel more needs to be done by all stakeholders moving forward."

The research was commissioned by MarkMonitor and conducted by independent survey company Vitreous World. A sample of 2,603 consumers was surveyed from the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy.

Photo credit: Tofros.com, Pexels

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