Businesses the World Over Report Substantial Bottom-Line Benefits from Deploying VeriSign EV SSL Protection
Online Merchants and Service Firms Discover Gold Lining When Their Customers See the Green Address Bar
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — July 28, 2008 — Around the world, online businesses are reporting measurable—and substantial—bottom-line benefits resulting from their deployment of Extended Validation (EV) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates from VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN—News), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.
Metrics reported by some of these organizations include an 87% increase in registration rates, a 30% climb in sales conversions, a more than 13% drop in abandoned carts, and a 48,000% ROI.*
VeriSign® EV SSL helps online businesses build trust with their customers by offering an effective safeguard against phishing scams that lure unsuspecting consumers to sites designed to appear almost identical to genuine Web pages. Identity thieves use these fraudulent pages to capture credit card numbers, passwords, and other valuable personal information. When visiting sites protected by an EV SSL Certificate, Internet users using compatible high-security browsers see a green address bar. The green address bar tells consumers they have reached a website whose authenticity has been verified according to certain rules.
From North America to Europe and beyond, online merchants and service providers are among the more than 5,000 online businesses that protect their websites with VeriSign EV SSL Certificates (including VeriSign®, GeoTrust®, and thawte® brand Certificates). And in the process, they are watching their websites perform at unprecedented levels. Among the recent success stories:
North America
Papercheck, LLC, a San Francisco-based company that offers online document editing and proofreading services, especially to academic users.
Results: In tests, the company found that visitors who see the trusted green address bar are 87% more likely to complete the company’s online registration process—the key step in becoming a customer.
Central Reservation Service (CRS) provides a free hotel reservation service that offers attractive rates and special deals on both independently owned and familiar brand hotels and resorts, with no prepayment and no booking, change, or cancellation fees.
Results: Tests showed that customers who saw the green bar converted to purchase 30% more often than those who didn’t see the green bar, far exceeding the company’s expectations.
Europe
Dwell.co.uk markets a wide range of excellently priced contemporary furniture throughout the United Kingdom, with rapid delivery for in-stock items.
Results: The company reports that the EV SSL green address bar boosted conversion rates by 13.8% and monthly sales by £18,000 (more than $35,000). That increase represents an astounding 48,000% return on the company’s investment in VeriSign EV SSL.
Fitness Footwear, Ltd. is the largest independent footwear retailer in the UK and the No. 1 supplier of several name brands, with its website accounting for 95% of its sales.
Results: VeriSign EV SSL protection delivered a 13.3% drop in cart abandonment and a 16.9% increase in conversions to sales.
Scandinavian Design Online AB, part of the Design Online Group, is one of the leading websites selling home and garden, interior design and décor to a worldwide audience across multiple websites.
Results: Two months after EV SSL implementation, the company saw an 8% increase in online conversion rates.
Results: Two months after EV SSL implementation, the company saw an 8% increase in online conversion rates.
Pacific Rim
SISTIC, Singapore’s No. 1 leading ticketing agency, sells tickets for more than about 90% of Singapore’s arts, entertainment, and sports events. SISTIC has an extensive ticket distribution network in Singapore and beyond in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Results: After deploying VeriSign EV SSL Certificates, SISTIC recorded a 14% increase in sales.
“The Internet is a fantastic tool, but customers are concerned about security on websites,” said Richard Theobald, IT manager at dwell. “Our use of the VeriSign Secured Seal and EV certificates is one of our most important ways of instilling confidence in customers and assuring them that their information is secure when they do business with dwell.”
In addition to seeing bottom line results from EV SSL, VeriSign customers are also seeing uplift from the VeriSign Secured® Seal. U.S.-based Proof-Reading.com LLC, a provider of high-quality business document proofreading and editing services, recently reported a 36% increase in registrations after it switched to the VeriSign Secured Seal, citing VeriSign’s globally trusted brand as a major driver of the uplift. View case study: www.verisign.com/proof-reading
“When a company makes the effort to provide a trusted online experience, customers respond — and so does the bottom line,” said Tim Callan, vice president of SSL product marketing at VeriSign. “From soaring revenues and conversion rates to meaningful reductions in abandoned shopping carts, these online merchants are realizing real-world benefits from their reliance on VeriSign EV SSL Certificates. As these results show, EV SSL protection is an investment that keeps paying dividends.”
When a website uses an EV SSL Certificate to identify itself, browsers including Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), Firefox 3, and Opera 9.5 display easily understood visual cues to provide tangible assurance of a site’s authenticity. The browser adopts the “green glow,” a highly visible green background on or adjacent to the browser’s address bar. This green area contains the authenticated name of the organization that owns this site and can also indicate the name of the security provider that issued the certificate, such as VeriSign.
As the most respected and trusted SSL authority on the Web, VeriSign is the EV SSL Certificate provider of choice for more than 5,000 Internet domains, representing greater than 75% of the entire EV SSL Certificate market worldwide. In fact, over 95% of the Fortune 500 and the world’s 40 largest banks secure their sites with SSL Certificates sold by VeriSign.**
*Your company’s results may vary. Contact VeriSign today to talk about how VeriSign can best address your company’s security needs.
**Includes VeriSign’s subsidiaries, affiliates, and resellers.
About VeriSign:
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign’s actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as the inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new products and services and customer acceptance of any new products or services, including VeriSign EV SSL solutions; the possibility that VeriSign’s announced new services may not result in additional customers, profits or revenues; and increased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that could affect the company’s business and financial results is included in VeriSign’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
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Source: www.verisign.com
