ForgeRock has released the second volume of its report on consumer behavior during the pandemic. Appropriately dubbed “The New Normal – Living Life Online,” the report is based on the survey responses of 5,000 consumers in the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Singapore.
The first volume of the survey marked the dramatic increase in remote activity as people switched to online services during the pandemic, and suggested that many people will continue to use digital services once the pandemic is over. It also indicated that people are more likely to drop a service with an inconvenient login process.
The second volume finds more evidence to support the latter claim. Nearly half (46 percent) of the respondents simply won’t register with a service with an onerous onboarding process, while 35 percent would cancel or delete an app that makes it too difficult to log in. Roughly the same number (32 percent) explicitly said that they would switch to a direct competitor in search of a better user experience. Consumers consistently described getting locked out of an account as one of the most frustrating things that can happen to them, with most (72 percent) saying that it was more frustrating than forgetting a mask or not finding toilet paper on the shelves.
So what can businesses do to keep up with consumer preferences? According to ForgeRock, there is growing support for passwordless authentication practices, with most (57 percent) preferring to use technologies like biometrics when they are available. However, consumers do want businesses to be transparent with that information, with 70 percent indicating that they would prefer to use an app that will not resell their data to a third party.
“With consumers continuing to spend more of their lives online for the foreseeable future, it’s imperative that organizations simplify how consumers sign up, log in and engage with their apps and digital services,” said ForgeRock Global Business and Corporate Devleopment SVP Ben Goodman. “By putting identity at the center of the digital relationship, organizations can provide better and more secure access for consumers.”
ForgeRock believes that the report speaks to the potential consequences that businesses will face if they do not adapt to the new normal, and identifies some of the things that they can do to prevent that from happening. The company recently automated some of its services in an effort to deliver a more streamlined user experience.
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