There are several fears and phobias which affect customers with regard to online shopping. These include privacy risks, concerns that the products they purchase are not accurately portrayed in the website's picture, anxiety about online theft and unreliability, negative prior experiences with online shopping, and the fact that some websites provide very little information about their businesses and sellers, among other factors that need to be discussed, making customers feel uneasy about purchasing from these sites.
Some customers may be concerned about internet buying because they think their credit card information may be stolen. People are concerned about identity theft since they must disclose credit card information in order to make purchases online. Some customers are put off from engaging in online buying as a result of this. Due to the potential for misuse of their personal information by other vendors or third parties, consumers view the internet as an insecure medium to disclose details such their email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and debit or credit card numbers (Kumar, 2016). Some websites insist that users give their personal information before making a purchase, which causes customers to abandon their shopping carts. Online shoppers abandon their shopping carts in about 75% of cases, either before making a final decision to buy or occasionally just before paying (Gong et al., 2013).
Another reason why some customers avoid online purchasing is because they are concerned that the products are not adequately represented in the website's images. They are concerned that while the item may appear one way in the picture, it may actually look quite different and might be of lower quality. Additionally, it is not possible to try on clothing when purchasing online. Due to the inability to physically inspect the item they are about to purchase, some customers may find internet shopping to be unsettling. Customers cannot see, touch, feel, smell, or sample the things they wish to buy while making an online purchase (Al-Debei et al., 2015), making it difficult for them to analyze the products and for them to make a purchasing decision. Additionally, some products, like garments and shoes, must be tried before being purchased, but while shopping online, it is impossible to inspect, feel, and judge the quality of the products before making a purchase, which makes buyers hesitant to buy (Katawetawaraks and Wang, 2011).
In their study, Alam and Elaasi (2016) discovered that the primary concern for consumers while making an online purchase is the quality of the goods. Additionally, several consumers have claimed receiving phony goods and imitations in their orders (Jun and Jaafar, 2011). Consumers will never have faith in an online retailer when the product is of poor quality. The most frequent justification for refraining from e-commerce transactions is a consumer's lack of faith in the online merchant (Lee and Turban, 2001).
Another reason to avoid online shopping is the fear of internet theft and unreliability (Karthikeyan, 2016). Similarly, there is a chance that the website has inaccurate information, which could result in a mistaken purchase, or, in certain situations, the information is insufficient for the buyer to make a decision (Liu and Guo, 2008). Additionally, the return and exchange conditions are occasionally not made clear on the website. Wei et al. (2010) assert that a consumer's decision to shop online is directly influenced by the trustworthiness and credibility of an online merchant.
According to Limbu et al. (2011), some online retailers' websites give very little information about their businesses and sellers, which makes customers hesitant to make purchases from them. Another study found that consumers are wary of sharing their personal information with internet merchants because they are concerned about scams (Limbu et al., 2011). Online shoppers anticipate secure payment and privacy protection from websites. Due to the numerous risks involved, consumers steer clear of online buying since they do not believe it to be secure.
Additionally, some customers who have used internet purchasing have had problems like broken goods and false deliveries, delivery issues, or unreceived goods (Karthikeyan, 2016). When returning or exchanging an item they've purchased online, customers can run into issues since some websites provide them the option of choosing the delivery location, but other online merchants do not. As a result, the customer must courier the item themselves, which is inconvenient. Additionally, shoppers have had problems with needless delays (Muthumani et al., 2017). Customers' willingness to buy from online retailers may occasionally decline due to slow websites, poor navigation, or virus fears.

The fears and phobias which affect customers with regard to online shopping

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