Iris^® Powered by Generali Reports Past Data Breaches Affect Over 80% of Americans’ Future Willingness to Do Business with Retailers

During the 2024 Holiday Shopping Season, Three in Four Americans Would Feel More Secure Shopping at Stores That Offer Identity Protection

WASHINGTON – October 29, 2024 – Iris^® Powered by Generali (“Iris”), provider of a proprietary identity and cyber protection platform, today released the findings of its eighth annual Holiday Shopping ID Theft survey, which polls consumers annually on their holiday shopping habits as well as key cybersecurity and identity theft concerns related to their seasonal shopping plans. 

Paige Schaffer, CEO of Iris, commented on the findings, “Concern about personal and financial information being compromised while holiday shopping remains alarmingly high, with over 70% of Americans expressing worry, according to our 2024 Holiday Shopping ID Theft survey. This ongoing trend underscores the need for retailers and financial institutions to prioritize consumer trust. By offering proactive identity protection services, they can provide much-needed peace of mind to shoppers, especially among Gen X and Baby Boomers, who are particularly wary of past data breaches.”

The key findings of this year’s survey are listed below:

Data Breach of Third-Party Organization Viewed as Greatest Threat

• Over four in five respondents (82%) expressed concerns about their personal and financial data being at risk during the holiday shopping season due to data breaches. Close to half (45%) perceive a data breach of a third-party organization that holds their personal information as a threat. Roughly two in five adults feel the same about a data breach of an online merchant they plan to shop with (42%), a data breach of their credit card provider (41%), and a data breach of an app they use for shopping (38%).
  
  
• Given the U.S. political climate, the U.S. elections were a high-ranking concern for 43% of respondents, but inflation continued to be the top concern for most respondents (63%), followed by scams (50%).
  
  • Concern about inflation (57%) and scams (45%) is lowest among Gen Z, but they are by far the most likely to identify global conflict (also 45%) as a top three (3) concern.
    
    
• Most Americans (83%) continue to say that past data breaches have impacted their willingness to shop with a specific retailer.
  
  • Consumers were equally likely to express an impact on their willingness to do business with a breached retailer in 2017 (84%) and 2018 (83%). These levels dropped somewhat in 2019 (79%) and 2020 (78%) but crept upward in 2021 (81%), 2022 (82%), and 2023 (84%).
    
    
• Nearly three in four adults (76%) surveyed would feel more secure if a retailer, consumer brand, bank, or credit card provider offered identity protection services.
  
  • Gen X (80%), followed by Baby Boomers (75%) and Millennials (74%), feel more secure with a retailer, consumer brand, bank, or credit card provider that offers identity protection services. Gen Z (72%) was less inclined to feel this way. 
    
    

Gen Z Overtakes Millennials as Biggest Spenders This Holiday Season

• In 2024, Gen Z shoppers (30%) are the most likely to spend over $1,000, an increase from 2023 (24%). Like 2023, 29% of male shoppers surveyed plan to spend over $1,000 during the holiday season, while 21% of women say the same, an increase from 2023 (16%).
  
  
• Seven in ten (69%) shoppers surveyed will spend less than $1,000, continuing the same trend as 2023 (70%).

Online Shopping as a Top Way to Shop Increases, But Over Half Still Plan to Pop into Brick-and-Mortar Stores

• Online shopping will account for 86% of consumer buying this holiday season in at least one of the following ways: 
  • Using a desktop, laptop, or tablet (57%)
  • Using a cell phone or mobile device (51%)
  • and/or ordering online but picking up in a brick-and-mortar store (17%).
    
    
• Half (53%) of the respondents also reported that they would be shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, with intentions to shop in a brick-and-mortar store increasing significantly with age; Baby Boomers (66%) and Gen X (61%) are far more inclined than Millennials (47%) and Gen Z (29%) to do their holiday shopping this way.
  
  
• Two-thirds of Millennials (68%) will use a cell phone or mobile device, compared to 64% of Gen Z, 56% of Gen X, and just 27% of Baby Boomers.
  
  
• Nearly nine in ten (89%) Americans do their online holiday shopping on a personal device, while just 1% use a work-related device. Gen Z is the most likely to use a work-related device (4%), while Millennials are most likely to use both a personal and work-related device (13%).

This Holiday Season, Americans Continue to Choose Cards Over Cash

• A majority (86%) of holiday shoppers reported that they will pay via a credit or debit card this season.
  
  • Over one in four (28%) shoppers will use an app to pay, including third-party payment apps such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Venmo (20%) and/or Buy Now, Pay Later apps such as Klarna, Afterpay, and Sezzle (13%).
  • In 2024, 3% of survey respondents indicated they plan to pay for holiday shopping with digital assets or cryptocurrency, with men (4%) twice as likely than women (2%) for the same response.
  • Gen Z (63%), Millennials (67%), and Gen X (57%) are much more likely than Baby Boomers (35%) to pay by debit card, while credit cards are far more commonly used by Baby Boomers (71%) compared to Gen X (57%), Millennials (41%), and Gen Z (52%).  

Survey Methodology:

This survey was conducted via an Online CARAVAN^® survey conducted by Big Village among a sample of 1,014 adults ages 18 and older, live from October 7 through October 9, 2024. Respondents were voluntary members of an online panel weighted by five variables – age, gender, geographic region, race, and education – using data from the U.S. Census Bureau to verify the accuracy of the results. The generations were defined by the following ages: Gen Z (18-27), Millennials (28-43), Gen X (44-59), and Baby Boomers (60-78). 

About Iris^® Powered by Generali

Iris^® Powered by Generali is a B2B2C global identity and cyber protection company owned by the 190-year-old multinational insurance company, Generali, offering always-available identity resolution experts (real people, 24/7/365) and tech-forward solutions that uncomplicate the protection process. Understanding that victimization has no geographical boundaries, we've got a solution no matter your customers' coordinates. 

To learn more about Iris’ offerings, please visit  https://www.irisidentityprotection.com/.

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