Pick your poison

When making purchases online, consumers value payment security and payment choice more than typical merchant incentives like rewards and discounts, according to a PayPal-sponsored study conducted by JupiterResearch, MarketingCharts reports.

Security

Asked to choose between two websites that offered the same products at the same price:

• 54 percent of respondents say they would choose the site they trusted to keep their financial information secure.
• 31 percent would choose the site that gave a discount on the next purchase.
• 16 percent would go for the one that offers double rewards points with store credit card.

Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of purchasers feel more secure when they do not have to enter credit card information online, even at merchants' sites that they trust.

Payment Options

The types of payments accepted by merchants influence whether consumers will shop on their websites:

• 48 percent of all online adult shoppers prefer the convenience of alternative payment methods - 66 percent of consumers prefer online stores that offer them.
• 61 percent of online shoppers choose sites that offer both credit and debit card payment options.

Payment options come into play during all points of the purchase process:

• One in eight consumers thinks about how to pay even before deciding what to buy.
• 55 percent of consumers think about payment methods that they will use before they click on the checkout button.

About the study: The Jan. '08 JupiterResearch survey of 2,699 online consumers (randomly selected from an NPD online consumer panel) consisted of 35 closed-ended questions about behaviors, preferences, and attitudes about shopping online and payment methods.