What do customers really think about online age verification?

New research insights: what do customers really think about online age verification?

Keeping customers - especially young people - safe is important. But so is a good customer journey. We think that when it comes to online age checks, both are possible. So, we put it to the test.

When it comes to keeping young people safe online, age verification is an absolute necessity.

But for customers who are the right age, long and confusing checkout processes can be frustrating.

For online retailers, keeping checkout processes as smooth as possible is important to keep customers happy and avoid losing revenue.

The trouble with online age verification

Studies show a 69.82% online cart abandonment rate with 24% of customers citing account creation as their reason for abandonment, and 18% finding the checkout process too long and complicated.

For retailers who spend time and effort creating a frictionless checkout journey, long, complicated age verification threatens revenue. Those operating on e-commerce platforms such as WooCommerce and Shopify are particularly at risk, having to use the plugins available to them to perform age verification.

With online shopping exploding in popularity, sales of age-restricted goods and services are following the same trend.

Current age check processes are flawed. Most sites use self-declaration, which is not good enough, and those who use full ID checks find their journeys long and cumbersome. The ideal AV solution needs to be:

• Convenient – a frictionless process for customers
• Speedy – a fast process that doesn’t waste customer’s time
• Secure – protects and doesn’t hold or share customer data or ask for any more than is necessary
• Reliable – an accurate process that will effectively prevent minors from accessing online age-restricted goods and services

Essentially, ideal age verification would prevent sales to minors without  alienating legitimate customers.

Advancements in Online Age Verification

Effective and accurate online age verification shouldn’t mean compromising on all the other important customer experience considerations your business spends so long perfecting.

Developments in digital identity tech mean that ready to use, easy to implement, and regulation compliant solutions are available. Accurate age data already exists, held by banks about their customers, meaning online banking could be utilised to verify age online.

Read the full article here.