Online British Adults Set to Spend GBP $7.4 Billion on the Web This Christmas

 Britain Set for Bumper Online Shopping Year -- but Online Businesses Could Lose out Unless They Address Consumer Security Fears

LONDON--(Marketwire - November 29, 2010) -   An online independent YouGov survey, commissioned by Norton by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC), has found that British Internet users are planning to spend £7.4 billion online this Christmas*. Nearly one in five (18 percent) British web users expect to buy more presents, decorations and food online than they did last year, and nearly half (48 percent) anticipate spending a similar amount -- with those who shop online this Christmas planning to spend an average of £234.16. However, consumers expressed security concerns about internet shopping -- meaning that e-retailers could lose business if they do not increase customer confidence and trust about shopping online.

The online Christmas shopping survey found that almost a third of respondents (29 percent) who plan to shop online this festive season are planning to spend between £101 and £250. 25 to 34 year olds are the most active Christmas internet shoppers with 85 percent planning to shop online, spending £209.80 on average, and 26 percent expecting to buy more online than they did in 2009. However, nearly one in five (17 percent) of all online consumers stated that security concerns are mostly holding them back above all other things from shopping on the web this Christmas; citing fear of online identity theft and fraud (eight percent), not trusting the site they are buying from (four percent), fear of falling victim to cybercrime (three percent) and unwittingly downloading malware or a virus (one percent). Online retailers must look to enhance website security and create a trusted online environment so that any potential customer feels confident enough to give them their hard-earned cash this Christmas.

The Christmas online shopping survey uncovered other current trends and habits among British web users, including:

• Men expect to spend more money online this Christmas than women, spending an average of £208.49 compared to £179.67
• Those aged 35 to 44 will be the biggest online Christmas spenders, with plans to part with an average of £286.95
• Those in the East appear to be the most frugal, with respondents planning to spend an average of just £201.82 online
• Conversely, Scots are set to be the most generous spenders, with Scottish respondents planning to spend an average of £227.68
• The Scots are also the most keen online shoppers, with 80 percent stating that they will shop on the web this holiday season, and with 23 percent believing they will shop online more than they did last year -- more than any other region
• Respondents from Northern Ireland are the most concerned about security threats when it comes to shopping online this Christmas, with over a quarter (29 percent) deterred from shopping online this holiday the most due to security concerns (fear of online identity theft and fraud -- 14 percent; fear of falling victim to cybercrime -- nine percent; not trusting the site I'm buying from -- five percent; unwittingly downloading malware or a virus -- two percent)

Regional breakdown:

Region	Average planned Christmas shopping spend by UK online adults	Percentage of consumers that are held back from shopping online by security concerns
Scotland	£227.68	23%
London	£198.33	16%
North of England	£195.50	19%
Wales	£ 173.09	16%
Midlands	£ 194.87	15%
South of England	£ 188.32	17%
Northern Ireland	£ 189.62	29%
East of England	£ 174.57	10%

Quote and tips for consumers:Michael Cunningham, security expert at Symantec, stated: "British web users are ready to spend a huge amount of money this festive season and are rightly being cautious about shopping online. We've provided some simple steps that consumers should follow to protect themselves online. Fraudsters will be out in full force with so much to gain but by being aware and only shopping on trusted websites, consumers should still be able to benefit from the efficiency and cost benefits of shopping online."

Norton suggests the following tips for consumers to protect themselves when shopping online this Christmas:

• Credit not debit. A debit card is a direct line into your bank accounts.
• Use strong passwords. Passwords should have at least eight characters and should combine alphanumeric ad special characters. Where possible, use two-factor or strong authentication which works by requiring a user to provide not just a username and password but also a unique, one-time six-digit security code.
• Look for visual cues that identify safe websites. Scan the web page for a trust mark, such as the VeriSign Trust Seal. These marks demonstrate that trusted authorities have taken comprehensive measures to certify the website. Many browsers will also turn their address bars to the colour green to signify the site is authentic.
• Avoid divulging personal information. Don't give out unnecessary personal data like usernames and password via email.
• Protect your computer. Keep your system clean and in good shape with an updated security software suite like Norton Internet Security.

Quote and tips for businesses:Michael Cunningham, security expert at Symantec, stated: "Online businesses should follow simple steps to create a trusted online environment. Security should be highly visible to shoppers to improve confidence online. Websites should display trust symbols and ensure users personal details are protected through Extended Validation SSL -- which turns the address bar of authenticated sites green in high-security browsers. In addition, contact details and security policies should be prominent. A visibly secure website is proven to increase sales and reduce cart abandonment."

Norton suggests the following tips for online businesses looking to generate trust and encourage more shoppers to buy online this festive season:

• Scan your site for malware: it's essential to protect your web site from viruses and other malware. If you don't protect against malware, you risk being blacklisted by search engines such as Google
• Encrypt your customers' personal details: use an SSL Certificate, ideally Extended Validation SSL, so that it's visible to your customers that their details are being protected 
• Use a trust mark: display popular trust symbols -- research shows that consumer confidence is higher on sites that display trusted symbols such as the VeriSign Trust Seal
• Protect users' accounts: don't expect your customers to rely on a username and password combination; these can be easily hacked, so add a second layer of authentication such as VeriSign Identity Protection
• Increase consumer confidence online: Make it obvious that your website is secure and that you are doing everything possible to protect your customers' personal details and identity. Publish your security certificates and give transparency to visitors by displaying visible contact details.

The independent research was carried out in four countries across Europe: UK, Germany, France and Sweden. According to the results, 18 percent of online adults in Germany and the UK will Christmas shop more online this year compared to 2009, followed by Sweden (13 percent), then France (12 percent). The total amount expected to be spent across all these markets is £22.2 billion**, with the UK seeing the biggest average spend per respondent, at £234.16 (approximately EUR 274.96). French respondents were the most security-conscious, with almost a quarter (24 percent) stating that fears over security could deter them from shopping online this Christmas (fear of online identity theft and fraud -- 15 percent; not trusting the site they're buying from -- four percent; fear of falling victim to cybercrime -- three percent; unwittingly downloading malware or a virus -- two percent).

About the survey:All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2168 adults in the UK, 1,020 in Germany, 1000 in France and 1020 in Sweden. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2^nd - 9^th November 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted are representative of adults in each individual country (aged 18+).

*Estimated based on the latest data from the Office of National Statistics which indicates that there are 38.3 million internet users in the UK (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iahinr0810.pdf). The average online respondents will spend £193.65 Christmas shopping online this year, this equates to £7.4 billion.

**Estimated based on the below figures:

	UK	France	Germany	Sweden
Number of online adults	38,300,000	37,490,000	52,042,000	6,083,933
Average amount expected to be spent in local currency	£193.65	€ 158.00	€ 203.04	1404.3 kr
Average amount expected to be spent (£)	193.65	134.12	172.358	127.075
Total online spend (£)	7,416,795,000	5,028,158,800	8,969,855,036	773,115,786
Grand total (£)	22,187,924,622
Grand total (€)	26,120,941,975
Grand total (kr)	244,962,440,753
Conversion rates:
France/Germany: £1 = €1.17801
Sweden: £1 = 11.0514 kr

• French statistic sourced from Médiamétrie (a company specializing in media audience and online measurement)
• German statistic sourced from Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistics Office)
• Swedish statistic sourced from Statistiska Central Byrån (Central Statistics Office)

About Symantec Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available atwww.symantec.com.

Copyright © 2010 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec Logo, and the Checkmark Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. VeriSign, VeriSign Trust and other related marks are the trademarks or registered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc. or its affiliates or subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries and licensed to Symantec Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT:Victoria Henry
Norton by Symantec
+44 207 092 3423
victoria_henry@symantec.com

Rebecca Lansdell
Weber Shandwick
+44 (0)20 7067 0539
rlansdell@webershandwick.com

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Cyber Monday Rings in Huge Holiday Sales for Retailers; Mercent eCommerce Performance IndexTM Reports Revenue Increase Across Top Online Channels

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire -- Mercent™, a leading provider of on-demand marketing solutions for retailers, released today its Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ (MEPI) for Cyber Monday 2010 -- the largest online shopping day of the year with over 102 million American shoppers -- and for the extended 5-day shopping weekend starting Thanksgiving Day and ending Cyber Monday. 
The Mercent eCommerce Performance Index is a quarterly eCommerce report that measures year-over-year (YOY) aggregate same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) across online sales channels and shopping destinations supported by the Mercent Retail™ channel management platform, including Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo!, eBay, and more than 120 others. During the holiday retail selling season, Mercent supplements its MEPI by issuing two annual holiday reports that measure 24 hours of online retail sales for Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.

Today's release specifically includes consumer retail eCommerce growth figures for Cyber Monday, November 29^th, 2010, and the five-day shopping period of November 25^th (Thanksgiving Day) through November 29^th (Cyber Monday), 2010.

• For the 24 hours of Cyber Monday 2010, Mercent reports overall same-seller online retail GMV across all channels grew 34% relative to Cyber Monday 2009.
• On Cyber Monday, same-seller GMV of Mercent clients participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" third-party marketplace program increased by 75% relative to Cyber Monday 2009.
• Same-seller GMV sales on the Google Product Search advertising program showed a 37% increase over 2009 on Cyber Monday.

2010 Key Holiday Shopping Days Versus Corresponding Days in 2009 for eCommerce Spending
Holiday Season Day		Online Shopping Channels
		ALL		Amazon		Google
November 25th(Thanksgiving Day)		32%		58%		31%
November 26th(Black Friday)		30%		105%		69%
November 29th(Cyber Monday)		34%		75%		37%
Complete 5-day Shopping "Weekend"		31%		86%		37%

"The Mercent eCommerce Performance Index reflects remarkable online retail sales performance this holiday shopping season," commented Mercent CEO Eric Best. "Year-over-year same-seller GMV across all Mercent-support channels increased 34%, and sales on Amazon and Google Product Search also grew by 75% and 37% respectively. We are confident growth this year continues to be driven by value-conscious consumers. However, this value-driven shopping trend is no longer a function of a soft economy, rather a permanent change in retail shopping behavior. With purchasing information and capabilities directly at their fingertips via browsers and mobile apps, consumers are armed with real-time data on pricing and product availability, promotions and offers, member discounts, and group-buying and local offers to evaluate every purchase. The implication for retailers is the requirement to fully engage customers online and on mobile devices in deliberate and increasingly sophisticated ways in order to effectively compete, survive and thrive."

Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ Methodology:The methodology for the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index comparison matches all prior studies and reports retail transactions driven through Mercent's network of online shopping and advertising channels, including comparison shopping engines (CSEs), third-party seller marketplaces, and affiliate programs. To ensure continuity and to eliminate artifact associated with new customer ramp, the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index only references retailers live on the Mercent Retail platform prior to and during the entire reported term. Information regarding Mercent Retail shopping feed management technology, Mercent Performancemarketing services, and the complete list of online marketing channels in the Mercent Shopping Network are available at www.mercent.com.

About MercentMercent is a leading provider of online channel marketing technology and services for retailers. Through its award-winning Mercent Retail™ SAAS technology and Mercent Performance™ professional services, Mercent helps the world's most successful online merchants including 1-800-Flowers, Bass Pro Shops, Brookstone, GUESS?, L'Occitane USA, Redcats Group, and REI optimize online shopping channel marketing campaigns to drive customer acquisition, revenues, profits, and inventory velocity. Mercent is the single point of integration with a vast online advertising network that includes transactional marketplaces such as Amazon.com and eBay;comparison shopping engines (CSEs) such as Shopping.com and NextTag; affiliate marketing programs such as LinkShare and the Google Affiliate Network; and other product advertising channels including Microsoft Bing Shopping and Google Product Listing Ads (PLA). The company is a 'Selling on Amazon.com' Certified System Integrator, Buy.com Gold Certified Partner, eBay Certified Provider and certified Google Product Search Partner. Founded by a seasoned team of Amazon.com veterans, Mercent is a venture-funded company based in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.mercent.com.

Mercent PR Contact:
Kristine Szarkowitz
Email Contact
(Tel: ) 206.310.5323

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Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index Reveals Record Volume over the Shopping Weekend

December 01, 2010 02:48 PM Eastern Time 

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chase Paymentech, a leading merchant acquirer and payment processor, today announced season to date results from the Cyber Holiday Pulse Index.

The 2010 Data clearly indicates that holiday shopping season no longer officially begins on Black Friday. Thanks to the 24/7 reality of online commerce, consumers can begin their shopping as soon as they step away from the Thanksgiving table, or even while they wait for the turkey to finish roasting. More than ever, merchants are taking advantage of the online channel to extend shopping hours, and, as seen in the Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index, consumers are clearly responding. And the spending does not stop as shoppers return to work. Gift buying can continue on Cyber Monday and beyond.

Pulse Index Results Past Seven Days

Sales   Transactions   Avg Ticket Mouse-over data points to see detailed information.

The Pulse Index is an annual tracking of online shopping activity during the holiday season. From November through January, Chase Paymentech monitors the daily settlement activity of 50 of the largest 250 Internet retailers, as defined by the Internet Retailer Top 500. The data includes the average ticket, total number of payment transactions and total dollar value processed. The data is taken from transactions crossing Chase Paymentech's processing platforms.

Record Volume Over the Shopping Weekend
The 2010 data clearly indicates that holiday shopping season no longer officially begins on Black Friday. Thanks to the 24/7 reality of online commerce, consumers can begin their shopping as soon as they step away from the Thanksgiving table, or even while they wait for the turkey to finish roasting. More than ever, merchants are taking advantage of the online channel to extend shopping hours, and, as seen in the Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index, consumers are clearly responding. And the spending does not stop as shoppers return to work. Gift buying can continue on Cyber Monday and beyond.

For the five-day period beginning on Black Friday, the Pulse Index indicated a dramatic 37 percent increase in transactions and a 30 percent increase in sales over the same period last year. On Tuesday, when many Cyber Monday purchases actually settled, the Pulse Index set a single-day record for both transactions and settled sales.

For the full holiday season, transactions are up 35 percent, and sales are up 23 percent. The average ticket values remain down, falling 8.6 percent from last year. This may be a symptom of increasing sales of digital goods and of discounting early in the season.

Send feedback about the Cyber Holiday Pulse Index.
For the five-day period beginning on Black Friday, the Pulse Index, which tracks sales and transactions for 50 top e-retailers, indicated a dramatic 37 percent increase in transactions and a 30 percent increase in sales over the same period last year. On Tuesday, when many Cyber Monday purchases actually settled, the Pulse Index set a single-day record for both transactions and settled sales.

For the full holiday season, transactions are up 35 percent, and sales are up 23 percent. The average ticket values remain down, falling 8.6 percent from last year. This may be a symptom of increasing sales of digital goods and of discounting early in the season.

The season has only just begun, and the early numbers are encouraging for merchants with an e-commerce presence. As we move closer to the holidays, keep an eye on the Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index (http://pulse.chasepaymentech.com) to see if the growth continues.

About the Chase Paymentech Cyber Holiday Pulse Index

Now in its fifth year, the Pulse Index tracks millions of payment transactions daily throughout the holiday season, taken from a sample of 50 of the top U.S. retail Web sites as ranked by Internet Retailer magazine. Unlike other data sources that monitor holiday spending, the Pulse Index data reflects empirical merchant purchase data – it is not a consumer sample, a survey, or an estimate. As the market leader for e-commerce processing, Chase Paymentech is uniquely able to provide this type of information. The Pulse Index data is updated every business day throughout the holiday period, from November 4 through January 6^. Insights, analysis and commentary are provided weekly.

About Chase Paymentech

Paymentech, LLC (“Chase Paymentech”), a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), is a global leader in payment processing and merchant acquiring, capable of authorizing transactions in more than 130 currencies. The company’s proprietary platforms provide access to a wide variety of payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, prepaid stored value cards and electronic check processing. In 2009, Chase Paymentech processed 18.0 billion transactions with a value of $409.7 billion, including an estimated half of all global Internet transactions. The company also provides a full set of solutions aimed at accelerating cash flow and managing transaction data. On the Internet or at the point of sale, Chase Paymentech’s unique combination of outstanding service, innovative solutions and financial strength offers solid benefits to companies both large and small. More information can be found at www.chasepaymentech.com.

Contacts

Chase Paymentech
Paul Hartwick, 302-282-3961
paul.hartwick@chase.com

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E-Commerce Report 2010: Fewer Fraud Attempts in European Online Trade

COLOGNE, Germany, December 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of fraud attempts in European online trade has declined slightly. This is one of the results of the new E-Commerce Report 2010 by Deutsche Card Services. In case of the most popular e-commerce payment method - the credit card - fewer chargebacks after a cardholder complaint were caused by fraud attempts. This is evident from the fact that the share of chargebacks on the grounds that the purchase was not authorised by the cardholder or that the card was not presented fell by 7%. At 0.34%, the chargeback ratio - the share of credit card transactions charged back after an objection by the cardholder - is still low. The non-payment risk is higher for men than for women. Furthermore, it is higher for both British shops and British customers and is above the European average. It applies to all card payments in e-commerce and, with one exception, to direct debits, that a higher transaction value means a higher non-payment risk. More information: http://www.deutsche-card-services.com/en/ecommerce-report0/e-commerce-report. html.

Payment Behavior

• Credit cards remain the predominant payment method in European e-commerce.
• Visa remains the most important credit card provider in European e-commerce, ahead of MasterCard.
• In Europe as a whole, still beats Visa MasterCard (ratio: 2:1).
• Mastercard Increased its market share among men but, lost market shares to Visa among women marginal.
• The market share of other credit cards (mostly American Express, Diners and retailer credit cards) rose to more than 4% and even more than 20% among German customers.
• giropay keeps growing.

• Credit cards become the predominant payment method for German consumers and relegate direct debits to the second place.
• giropay is another winner in German online trading, its share is already above 17%.
• In contrast to German women, German men are not particularly interested in offline payment methods.
• In the UK, Maestro is the only online payment method that plays a non-negligible role besides credit cards.
• Outside Germany and the UK, credit cards are virtually the only payment method in online trade.

• The average value of purchases paid for by the insecure direct debit method drops to a bit more than half, it clearly rises for the secure giropay procedure.
• The transaction values of modern online payment methods, credit cards and searchable as giropay, did not decline much Despite, the financial and economic crisis.
• Credit cards are often used for Relatively transaction values of less than EUR 10, Whereas giropay is used to pay for luxury goods with a price of more than EUR 500

The E-Commerce Report analyses purchasing and payment behaviour and non-payment risks in online trade; the study has been published annually since 2002. In contrast to other research, the study by the Deutsche Bank subsidiary is based on real-life purchases and not on surveys. It starts from about 24 million transactions processed via the Deutsche Card Services platform. All data are fully anonymised and comply with all data-protection requirements. The study is available from the online shop of Deutsche Card Services.

General non-payment-risk trends in e-commerce:

    - Fewer fraud attempts

    - Non-payment risk higher for men

    - Higher non-payment risk in British shops

    - Chargeback ratio declines further

    - Higher transaction values result in higher non-payment risks generally

    Complete press release:

http://www.deutsche-card-services.com/en/company/press-room/latest-news.html

Deutsche Card Services
    Marketing&Communications
    Tobias F. Hauptvogel
    Tel.:+49-22199577-728
    Fax:+49-22199577-8728
    http://www.deutsche-card-services.com
    E-mail:pr.deucs@db.com

SOURCE Deutsche Card Services GmbH

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