More accessible, faster transactions, and wider reach—these are some of the wonderful benefits brought by online shopping to consumers. But along with all these conveniences is one concern that still keeps people on their toes: online security.

The first quarter of 2025 alone has already seen 30% of customers report having their data exposed after shopping online. How much more if we include the statistics from the previous years?

Obviously, these growing cases of data breaches and cyberattacks have affected customer trust. That’s why responsible business owners have been exploring ways to strengthen cybersecurity measures by implementing the use of VPNs, MFAs, and password managers. 

In this highly susceptible industry, to build consumer confidence in your brand, you really have to prove that you are worth trusting. But are you?

In this article, let’s look into how you can ensure a secure shopping experience for your customers with one of the most reliable digital safety practices: the use of VPNs for e-commerce. 

Why You Need VPN for Your Online Business

Everything that we do online comes with an inherent risk. But as it already includes finances and personal data, there’s a certain kind of hesitation among customers when purchasing from online shops.

And we can’t blame them. With cybercriminals continuously devising ways to get access to sensitive information, businesses also need to level up and protect not only the business but, most importantly, the customers. Hence, the need for VPNs.

Developed in the mid-90s, Virtual Private Network has been protecting the privacy and security of people online by encrypting internet connections and masking IP addresses. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, a lot of features have been enhanced to ensure security and privacy. For instance, the best VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, have adhered to strict no-logs policies, meaning the provider does not collect or store any user information. Additionally, these services also offer:

  • Web filtering to control access to websites and content
  • Threat detection to help identify and block potential malicious activities 
  • Hashing to ensure data integrity
  • Higher speed for a more efficient online transaction
  • Cryptocurrency mode of payment to minimize the risks of fraud and data exposure

For a more in-depth look at these features, check out the comprehensive analysis by Cybernews experts on the best VPN services.

So, How do VPNs Contribute to a Secure Shopping Experience?

Of all the things you want customers to experience while browsing your online shop, security threats are definitely not one of them. So, if you really want to build customer confidence and keep them loyal to your brand, using VPN can help:

1. Encrypt Data.

There are lots of transactions that happen in your e-commerce shop. From the exchange of goods and services to fund transfers, all these are at the risk of being intercepted, with possibilities of data being stolen, changed, or compromised if you don’t have a strong VPN.

The best VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, employ advanced encryption protocols such as AES-256-CBC, ChaCha20 to ensure that all customer and business information is kept safe from hackers, who are so eager to get hold of this data. With data encryption, you can keep all these pieces of information protected while at rest or when in transit.

2. Secure Remote Access.

Businesses are now always on the go. Unlike physical stores, you no longer need to stay in one fixed location to manage the operations of your business. You can literally be enjoying a holiday, but still monitor the business 24/7. Likewise, your employees can be anywhere in the world, access the e-commerce site, and work from the comfort of their homes—or wherever they prefer to be most productive.

By using VPN, you and your employees can securely access the e-commerce platform and facilitate transactions virtually and privately. This ensures seamless collaboration and streamlines the workflow, which ultimately helps the online shop provide the best services to customers.

3. Keeps Online Shop Free from Malicious Threats.

Aside from being annoying, those ads popping up on screens can potentially lead to unauthorized access to data and phishing attacks. While this might not be the core feature of many VPNs, the best services already cater to proactively identifying and blocking potential threats. 

With VPN ad blockers, you can stop ads from displaying and keep cookies from tracking customers. This warning system can help both your business and customers stay alert to any potential threats that may surface while online shopping.

Analyze Competition.

Of course, business is business.

While the primary use of VPNs is to keep your online browsing experience safe and private, you can also use their features to look into how your competitors are doing—what new products are they launching, what strategies are they implementing, and how they are performing compared to your online shop?

With the use of VPN, you can bypass geolocation and anonymously study how the big brands or competitors are doing. Instead of spending so much on market research, you can leverage this feature to gather insights, which is definitely of great help in:

  • assessing your current business strategies
  • refining your product and service offerings
  • making data-driven decisions to improve your position in the market
  • enhance the shopping experience of your customers 

Building Consumer Confidence with VPN: In a Nutshell

Purchasing products online comes with its own set of risks. But this does not need to be the case when it comes to your online business. By being transparent with your business procedures and implementing strong cybersecurity measures, you can slowly build that trust among your customers.

With the use of VPN for your online transactions and overall business processes, you can further protect your customers from the malicious intentions of those predators lurking in one corner of the internet, waiting for any vulnerabilities that they could exploit, by:

  • encrypting data
  • securing remote access for employees
  • keeping the e-commerce shop free from malicious threats
  • enhancing the shopping experience by researching how competitors are doing

By investing in the best VPN services, not only do you build customer confidence, but you’re also building the reputation of your e-commerce website.

So, what VPN are you using to keep your transactions safe? What cybersecurity measures have you implemented so far?