Privacy concerns have cost online and offline retailers a combined $6.2 billion in lost sales, according to a survey by UCO Software, a privacy software company. The data was derived from an October 2001 study conducted by Cyber Dialogue that surveyed 500 Internet users.
The UCO survey revealed that:
·Twenty-seven percent of consumers have abandoned an online order because of privacy concerns, while 21 percent switched to place an order offline.
·Seven percent of respondents online purchases and 5 percent offline purchases were made at another store or brand because of privacy concerns.
·Eighty-nine percent consider companies' sharing credit card information, and 83 percent consider the sharing of names and home addresses without permission a direct violation of privacy.
