A topic always present in the minds of Internet users is privacy and the security of their personal information. Sixty-two percent of respondents surveyed for this report claim that they have some concerns about the security of their information. Consumers who are 18 to 24 years old exhibit much less anxiety over this occurring, while the most affluent consumers were the most concerned group. A provision merchants can take to ease the fears of consumers is to maintain and publicize a comprehensive privacy policy on their web site. Twenty-nine percent of shoppers have seen privacy, security or information disclosure statements on all of the web sites from which they have made purchases, and an additional 50 percent report seeing these policies on most of the web sites.
Online shoppers have different feelings with respect to buying groceries online.
Only 10 percent of shoppers have bought groceries online. The majority of individuals who have purchased grocery items online have done so from an online only grocer. Only 7 percent of respondents who have purchased groceries online did so from their primary grocery store-the store they visit most often in a week. The reason for this small percentage appears to be lack of availability of the service. More than half of the people who make purchases online maintain that their primary grocery store does not offer online grocery shopping and another one-third do not know whether this service is offered by their primary grocery store.