Safety and security top concern for S’porean online shoppers

The report by Vesta surveyed respondents from the Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Singapore's top concern, the same as the Philippines' and Indonesia's, when shopping online is safety and security, a new survey by Vesta revealed.

In Vesta’s Online Sentiments Survey, Singaporeans top way to determine the security of an online website is if it belongs to a trusted brand (66%), followed by past reviews (64%), and if the site accepts common or well-known payment methods (63%).

However, across the three countries surveyed, 69% of online shoppers trust the words of their peers, determining the site's security through online reviews of products and services.

Frictionless payments

Across the three countries, 47% encountered payment problems in the last 12 months. The top two payment problems encountered by online shoppers are multiple verification and authentication and declined payments without valid reasons or false declines.

Encountering these payment problems would result in three out of five avoiding the e-commerce site again whilst 54% will warn family and friends about the site. 47% would lodge complaints against the site.

The survey also found the growing reliance of shoppers on e-wallets as a preferred payment method.

The Philippines has the most reliance on e-wallets as a payment method, with 69% choosing this method of payment. This is near Indonesia’s number at 55%.

In Singapore, only 18% rely on e-wallets but Vesta predicts mobile wallet penetration will reach nearly 95% of the population by 2025.