Today, the market watchdog team "Digital World" of the consumer association in Brandenburg presented the results of a study concerning consumers’ opinions on electronic payment procedures in German e-commerce. A total of eleven payment methods were analyzed which are used by the 181 highest-selling online retailers. Part of the study was a representative survey among 1,619 consumers in September and October 2016 which addressed the use of and the attitude towards electronic payment procedures.
These are some central results:
- Electronic payment methods are gaining increasingly in importance: Around 77 percent of consumers who shop online already use them. Here, PayPal seems to dominate the market - three quarters of the survey participants declared to use this provider.
- About 22 percent of the interviewees above the age of 50 stated that they do not use payment service providers because they have access to personal data.
- 34 percent of consumers would refuse electronic payment procedures if their data were used to personalize prices and advertising.
The results indicate that consumers want to co-determine what happens with their data when paying via the Internet. Dr. Kirsti Dautzenberg, head of the team "Digital World" in the consumer association in Brandenburg, explained: "Consumers are faced with a dilemma: if they want to use the convenient and fast solutions of the payment service providers, they often have to swallow the bitter pill and give their consent to something they actually do not want - namely the re-use of their data. Our results show that, in particular, the use of data for personalization acts as a deterrent."
Source: Consumer association Brandenburg
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