Survey: Customers will abandon a poor login experience

Digital retailers need to ensure their online login and authentication processes are quick and easy, as well as secure.

According to “Expectation vs. Reality at the Log Inn,” a new global study from customer identity/access management platform provider Auth0, 86% of surveyed U.S. consumers say that they have abandoned or would abandon their cart or sign-up to online content or apps if the process were too arduous. This figure includes more than one in two (52%) U.S. consumers who say they have done so or would do so many times. 

U.S. consumers are more likely than their surveyed counterparts in Asia-Pacific and Europe to say that they have or would abandon their cart/ sign-up process due to an arduous process many times (U.S. 52%, compared to Australia 39%, Singapore 40%, Japan 21%, U.K. 40%, Germany 25%, and France 40%. 

And more than nine in 10 (93%) surveyed U.S. IT managers and marketing decision-makers say that potential customers abandon their cart or signup when shopping or signing up to the online services that their company provides, including two-thirds (65%) who believe that customers do this either all the time or frequently. 

The study also examined global trends in how frequently consumers use a variety of common digital authentication and log-in methods, finding:

• Multifactor authentication is used by 34% of consumers all the time/frequently 36% sometimes, 14% hardly ever, and 16% never.
• Biometric authentication is used by 31% of consumers all the time/frequently, 17% sometimes, 12% hardly ever, and 39% never.
• Single sign-on is used by 31% of consumers all the time/frequently, 29% sometimes, 16% and 24% never.
• Social logins are used by 24% of consumers all the time/frequently, 29% sometimes, 16% hardly ever, and never 20%.
• Passwordless (one-time code, biometric) login is used by 15% of consumers all the time/frequently, 26% sometimes, 25% hardly ever, and 34% never.

The survey also revealed the top five consumer frustrations with login and authentication processes:

• Having to fill in long login or sign-up forms (48%).
• Creating a password that has to meet certain requirements (e.g. number of digits, symbols) 47%.
• Entering private information (e.g. passport number, tax file number) 46%.
• Having to create a new ID/password for every app or online service (43%).
• Verifying my account via a one-time password sent to my phone/email (23%).

Retailers must balance customer desire for simple authentication and login with the very real threats posed by theft of personal credentials. The 2021 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report reveals that the top pattern of retail cyberattack is system intrusion, which typically involves the use of stolen credentials to install malware that captures application data.

Auth0 and YouGov conducted a study online from February to August 2021. The research consisted of two surveys, questioning more than 14,700 consumers and 2,400 IT and marketing decision-makers who work for businesses that offer an app/online service to customers (excluding sole-traders) across 12 global markets: U.S., U.K., Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.