Nearly half - 48 percent - of consumers avoid shopping online because of fears their personal financial information could get stolen, according to a just-released Cyber Security Industry Alliance study, Internet Retailer writes. However, nearly as many - 47 percent - say they are confident that their information is safe on the internet. Some 97 percent of respondents cited identify theft on the internet as a serious problem, and 93 percent said spyware was a serious problem.

The study also sought to gauge public interest in tighter internet security laws. Only 28 percent said the federal government is placing the right emphasis on protecting information systems and networks, and 64 percent said the government should make it a higher priority to protect information systems. Paul Kurtz, executive director of the CSIA, says he hopes Congress will act on consumers' concerns and encourage industry adoption of cyber security standards.

Meanwhile, consumers who do shop online often don't take the bate when e-tailers attempt cross-sells, according to another Internet Retailer piece, which cites a Jupiter report on dynamic merchandising. A full 76 percent of online retailers use at least one method of cross-selling to suggest products to online shoppers – but only 9 percent of buyers use suggestions in researching and buying the product online, according the study, "Dynamic Merchandising: Targeting Merchandising Through Segmentation."