One in Five UK Consumers May Stop Shopping Online Because They Fear Cyberattacks

Security issues could be causing consumers in the United Kingdom to back down from buying digitally, new data from research firm GlobalData showed. 

In a survey of 2,000 UK consumers, one-fifth of those polled indicated they planned to cut down on—or halt entirely—their e-commerce purchasing because of concerns around security breaches. 

Notably, younger consumers—who are many times referred to as “digital natives”—indicated a stronger insistence on reducing or stopping online shopping going forward. One in three UK consumers between the ages of 16 and 35 said they would be likely to lower the number of online transactions they made, or to stop entirely. About one-quarter of UK consumers between ages 35 and 44 said the same, while consumers above the age of 45 showed less reluctance about their e-commerce patterns. 

Emily Salter, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, said consumers’ concerns about their data could compound with other trends to determine shoppers’ actions. Nonetheless, she contended, it’s not as if concerns around data will completely wipe out the continued dependency on e-commerce.

“The convenience and choice associated with the online channel will still trump security concerns for most consumers. This is potentially more important to older shoppers who have children and greater pressures on their time, or less ability to visit stores as they age,” Salter said in a statement. “Younger shoppers also place more emphasis on experiential shopping, so this combined with security concerns could push more consumers to stores.”

Still, security seems to increasingly be a priority for consumers in the UK; GlobalData’s survey results show that about eight in 10 shoppers between 25 and 34 are worried about their security and data because of cyberattacks executed on brands and retailers. About seven in 10 consumers between 16 and 24 or between 35 and 44 said the same. While consumers above 45 were less likely to say the same, more than 60 percent of shoppers still indicated discomfort about their data. 

The wave of worry comes on the heels of a slew of highly public data breaches from brands retailers this year. In 2025 alone, companies like Marks & Spencer, Victoria’s Secret, Adidas, Chanel, Cartier, The North Face and others have alerted consumers to data breaches which led to theft of personal information. In most cases, payment data remained unaffected—but that doesn’t mean that’s consumers’ perception of such incidents. 

Salter said consumers harbor the most concerns about payment breaches and noted that, even if it doesn’t seem a major issue to brands and retailers, they need to ensure their systems are adapted to accommodate consumer payment preferences. That’s especially true of younger consumers, a demographic companies consistently find themselves chasing. 

“Younger consumers are more concerned about retailers storing their payment details, and think that they are not doing enough to protect their private information when shopping online,” Salter said. “Paying with mobile wallets and third-party providers such as Apple Pay and PayPal is a way that consumers can avoid having to give their payment details directly to retailers. These payment methods are especially popular among under 35s. To allow this, retailers must ensure their websites and apps are compatible with these methods.”