Security seal lifts Opodo sales

Online travel agent Opodo says its sales have risen 10 per cent in just one week after posting a VeriSign Secured Seal on the payment pages of its web site.

The seal is a small symbol put on transactional web pages to assure shoppers that the site has adequate security and their financial details are encrypted.

Warren Jonas, head of service management at Opodo, says the company has clearly seen that confidence is a crucial issue for online shoppers.

‘Completed sales rose by about 10 per cent when we posted the VeriSign Secured Seal, and we immediately realised the impact that trust can have on shopping basket abandonment,’ he said.

‘We have now published the seal on all the payment pages across our European network.’

A survey commissioned by VeriSign and conducted by TNS Research shows that security concerns have led to 54 per cent of online shoppers abandoning a transaction. And 72 per cent of those shoppers said they would have continued with the purchase had the site displayed a trusted seal or mark.

Online retail body the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) forecasts UK online sales of £7bn in the run-up to Christmas, but says this figure could be significantly lower if consumers bypass the web because of their security concerns.

As well as the pressure this puts on ecommerce, IMRG’s figures show that 57 per cent of UK online shoppers believe responsibility for protecting their personal information lies with the site they are shopping on.

Avivah Litan, vice president and research director at analyst Gartner, says she is surprised the seal made such a difference to consumer confidence in Opodo’s case. ‘I find that increase very unusual,’ she said.

‘Research shows that even when you put green borders around the edge of a site to show it is secure, consumers miss it about 40 per cent of the time.’

But most online retailers want to provide some kind of quality seal, says Litan.

‘Other internet retailers want to provide this option but it requires education for people to recognise the seals,’ she said.