Online Shop Seals of Approval in the U.S. 2017 report

Competition in the e-Commerce sector is fierce, and security concerns of users are manifold. Therefore, a lot of online shops rely on seals of approval to raise customers’ trust into their reliability and security. Online shop operators can choose between many different providers that award seals of approval. Their offers sound very attractive; Norton Secure, for instance, promises a 7% higher conversion rate and 5% more returning customers.
The eligibility criteria vary significantly: some providers clearlypresent all requirements that have to be met by online shops to beawarded the seal, while others give no information regarding anyquality requirements whatsoever (e.g. McAfee Secure) or focus onjust one specific aspect (e.g. TRUSTe for privacy).
So far, however the effect of seals of approval has hardly beeninvestigated in independent studies. Statista therefore surveyedonline shoppers about their familiarity with seals of approval and inhow far these are able to raise their trust in online shops.