Trust in the .uk web space is currently at an unparalleled level and with national pride at an all-time high following the massively successful 2012 Olympic Games we expect to see this trend continue.
As we approach the launch of the new gTLDs maintaining the awareness and reputation of .uk in the mind of the British consumer will become increasingly important.
Alex Blowers
Director of Legal & Policy
Nominet’s commitment to ensuring a safe and secure environment in which to do business is fundamental to the success of our .uk portfolio.
With four out of five people continuing to prefer .uk sites over other alternatives when searching on-line, this indicates that businesses using .uk continue to offer the services users expect including; pricing in UK pounds, compliance with UK law and providing support from a UK postal address.
Security remains a key element of protecting consumer trust. We continue to focus on raising the bar in this area, working with our registrars, in order to ensure that customers can be confident in doing business on-line.
Our influence in the global policy agenda is credible because of our expertise and good record in operating a stable and secure infrastructure for .uk.
We continue to work with government, law enforcement agencies and policy makers to ensure the entire .uk domain name space remains a trusted and safe environment for all.
Nominet
81% of British internet users prefer to use a .uk website
Preference for .uk over .com
When buying products or services on-line 81% of British internet users prefer to use a .uk website over a .com. This strong preference is growing year on year, having increased +7% in the last three years and is indicative of the strong consumer trust we’ve developed in the .uk domain space. When simply searching for information on-line we’ve found this number to reduce slightly to 74% as the need for local-specific info is reduced, but this is still a distinct preference for the local choice – and again this preference has increased significantly in the last three years.
Women have a slightly higher preference for .co.uk than men and nine out of ten users in Scotland prefer a .co.uk when buying on-line. Preference for .co.uk is also particularly high with younger users – nearly seven out of eight users aged 18-24 prefer to use a .co.uk rather than a .com.
Key
Source: Insight Engineers
Trust in .uk vs .com
The preference for .uk websites is driven largely by the inherent trust in the space and we’ve found that only 5% of British internet users trust .com more than .uk.
While the majority of users trust the two spaces to the same degree, just under a third express more trust in .uk than in .com. In recent years we’ve seen some movement from trusting .uk more than .com to trusting both equally and there has been no significant change in the number who trust .com more. Overall, nine out of ten users trust .uk more or the same as .com.
Key
Source: Insight Engineers
UK on-line shoppers prefer to Buy British.
Expectations from a .uk website/domain
When questioned about their expectations of a .uk website, unsurprisingly we’ve found that users expect sites to be tailored to the UK marketplace, with £ sterling prices displayed, conformity to UK laws regarding security and data protection and UK-based customer support. While the internet may have opened up international trading and the ability to source goods from around the globe, UK on-line shoppers still primarily prefer to buy British.
Source: Insight Engineers
Associations with .uk vs .com
As you would expect, British internet users rate .uk websites as being more local than their .com equivalents and they also consider them to be more familiar, secure, credible and trusted. The only area where .com outperforms .uk in the mind of British users is in being considered global.
Key
Source: Insight Engineers
Have security concerns when buying from a new site
During these challenging economic times, e-commerce is one area of reassuringly strong growth. On-line sales grew by a massive +16.4% in December year on year and consumer confidence in making on-line purchases is a crucial part of this growth.
Around a quarter of British on-line shoppers always have security concerns when making a purchase from a new website and a fifth usually have concerns. 42% admit to sometimes having concerns regarding security when buying from a new site leaving 14% who “rarely” have security concerns, an increase of +4% year on year. Whether this growing confidence is due to increased experience and understanding of on-line security or is due to misguided optimism is as yet unknown but as on-line purchasing continues on this upward trend we can expect to see consumer confidence in on-line security growing.
Key
Source: Insight Engineers
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