Trust and transparency: What makes consumers hand over their data?

The Problem	The Position	The Potential	The Plan
80% of UK consumers would stop using a website if their data was misused.	Four factors affect ecommerce customer confidence: Transparency Privacy Social Proof Certification	Policies that combine certification with social factors have impact.	1. Be transparent about data collection, storage and use.
56% experienced a recent breach.	These fall into two categories. 1.Indications 2.Institutions	50% of UK shoppers will pay more for transparency.	2. Let customers edit and update their stored data.
71% were negatively impacted by it.		Global consumers will pay 7% more on average.	3. Use accurate data to tailor loyalty schemes and offers.
			4. Support this with clear, fair policies on ecommerce returns.

Two routes to trust

In a UK society where 98% of people shop online, consumers are savvier than ever when it comes to handing over their data. GDPR, cookie consent notices, QR codes and two-factor authentication are all familiar sights for customers who spend time on ecommerce sites.

The ICO’s Public Attitudes on Information Rights Survey 2025[1] highlighted the extent of this familiarity:

70% of Brits have had some experience with data protection
56% have had direct experience of a data breach
71% were impacted in some way by that breach

Negative impacts of data breaches include a loss of trust (35%), emotional distress (35%) and the time and effort to change passwords and restore security to accounts (35%).

Over three quarters of people have made use of information rights, such as limitations on the way personal data can be used and the right to request its erasure. While there is still a ‘digitally disengaged’ minority, the survey shows that this is no longer the norm.

In this article, we will look at the factors that influence consumers’ confidence in ecommerce decision-making, and how you can use trust and transparency to collect customer data with consent.

There are many methods to establish (and reinforce) customer trust in the way you handle their data. Transparency, plain-words privacy policies and social signals (e.g. ratings and reviews) can all help, as can more formal certification schemes, SSL certificates and homepage ‘security seals’.

In general, these different methods can be categorised into two groups:

Indications: Transparency, privacy and social proof.
Institutions: Symbols, seals and technical certifications.

Research in the journal Behaviour & Information Technology in April 2026 found that some consumers are more influenced by indications, while others attach more value to institutions.[2]

“Technological practices that are ethical, especially concerning transparency and communication of information, can greatly influence consumers’ confidence and decision-making.”

– Jaffari et al, Behaviour & Information Technology, April 2026

In their research, the team looked at four different influencing factors that contribute towards high confidence among consumers when making the decision to buy a product from an ecommerce website:

Social Proof: Including user-generated content such as photos, videos and reviews
Transparency: Including ESG commitments, returns policies, and similar
Privacy: Including policies relating to data retention and processing
Trust Seals: Including third-party certification, SSL certificates and https sites

The study found that social proof factors (e.g. photographs, videos and reviews by previous customers) can always contribute towards a more confident purchase decision.

But when looking at different combinations of influences, the researchers found that transparency, clear communication of privacy terms, and trust/security certifications can each be omitted in certain scenarios:

Scenario	1	2	3	4
Social Proof
Transparency			❌
Privacy		❌
Trust Seals	❌	❌
Outcome
Reliability	94%	91%	90%	96%
Unique Cases	14%	9%	8%	29%
Total Cases	52%	38%	40%	60%

Combination of trust factors with high-confidence outcome in ecommerce, April 2026[3]

In this table:

Reliability measures the percent of customers who felt high confidence in the ecommerce site when meeting the criteria of each scenario.
Unique Cases measures the percent of cases for which each scenario was the only matching set of criteria.
Total Cases measures the percent of cases for which each scenario was present, either exclusively or in combination with another scenario(s).

For example in Scenario 1, if social proof, transparency and privacy criteria are in place, even without visible trust seals, 94% of consumers will feel a high degree of confidence when making the decision whether to place an order or not. This combination of criteria is present 52% of the time, and is the only scenario present in 14% of cases.

The importance of a 30-day returns policy

A final footnote from the above study, which echoes what we have said in the past, is the importance of offering a clearly communicated 30-day returns policy.

“The biggest contribution, especially in online shopping, in the aspect of transparency, is the return policy that is adopted by the website. It is observed that most of the customers tend to prefer to buy from a website that has a good return policy.

“Transparent shipping options, as well as a returns process within 30 days, help improve trust and engagement.”

– Jaffari et al, Behaviour & Information Technology, April 2026

Fast and fair returns processes remove much of the feeling of risk from online transactions, which in turn removes one of the major causes of shopping cart abandonment.

Retain customers and raise revenues

The business case for trust and transparency is reinforced not only by the rate at which consumers are flocking away from websites they do not trust, but also by how much more they are willing to spend with ecommerce operators they do trust.

In an era of AI-driven personalisation and customer-facing chatbots, 61% of UK consumers have acted on concerns about their data in the past six months, and 80% would stop using a service if their data was misused.[4]

Those figures are from the Usercentrics State of Digital Trust Report 2026, which also found that half of UK consumers will pay more for transparent AI policies. Globally, consumers will pay a 7% premium on prices in order to feel protected.[5]

“Consumers everywhere want the same three things: clear explanations of how their data is used, strong security guarantees, and the ability to control what they share.”

– Usercentrics State of Digital Trust Report 2026

The report notes that the UK is “moving fastest along the awareness curve” with the largest year-on-year drop in consumers unaware of their data privacy rights (from 50% in 2025 to 43% in 2026).

How to build trust with ecommerce customers

We’ve looked at the factors that affect ecommerce customers’ trust and confidence during the purchase journey, but how can you build that trust directly?

Research in the Journal of Advertising in 2025[6] identified a number of ways for ecommerce operators to influence the digital customer journey, especially in areas surrounding AI, privacy and data collection.

Here are some of the suggestions made by the researchers:

Loyalty programme data

It should be easy for customers to correct, update and enrich the personal information they provide to loyalty programmes. You might also offer simple tick-boxes to limit the ways in which this data is used, e.g. for tailored advertising, product recommendations and personalised discounts.

Reduce repetition

Repetition is a powerful tool in advertising, helping to get brand names and slogans into the consumer consciousness. But repetition should be carefully managed in AI-personalised ads. Varying the message can reduce the customer’s perception that they are being excessively targeted.

AI transparency and opt out data

Being more transparent about the use of AI, particularly in terms of ad personalisation, can “empower customers” and reduce the feeling of being under surveillance. Where appropriate, you might consider allowing customers to opt-out of personalisation completely.

These are not ‘rocket science’ recommendations, but put a modern spin on traditional techniques: ensuring customer data is accurate, managing the level of exposure to advertising, and interacting in a transparent and trustworthy way.

Let MRM help you manage your data

We pride ourselves on data integrity and ethics, which are built into our innovative software platform Lodestone. From here, you can manage the data collected through promotional activities, competitions and loyalty schemes, while complying with your obligations as a data handler.

This enables more informed decision-making across your brand-building activities. Whether that’s a points-based or tiered loyalty programme, or fast and reliable ecommerce returns, MRM help you to offer your customers the trust and transparency they need to spend more with greater confidence.

Contact us today to book a 15-minute meeting and we can outline the options available to help you achieve your business goals.