Building Customer Confidence- Tips for Online Retailers

Tips for Online Retailers to Built Customer Trust

Educating Customers

• In order to be successful, retailers should communicate outwardly to consumers

that security measures are in place, and that safeguarding their data is the top

priority.

• Retailers can do this by:

1)offering optional security checkout pathways where employees spend some extra time to validate the customer's identity to prevent frauds

2)posting warning messages on the website providing awareness to consumers on the various risks they may incur when making payment, and

3)offer consumers prepayment options, so no actual credit/debit card transaction occurs at point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Big Businesses Should Define Cyber Security Standards

• High-profile retailers should take up the responsibility of helping small and

medium-sized businesses define and communicate cyber security standards. This

would help in raising the bar for all retailers.

• This also helps in illustrating what smaller firms do not need to do that larger firms

should.

• For example, a big-scale technology launched to maintain a market-leading

retailer's security structure may not suit a smaller retailer.

Taking Tips from Financial Institutions

• Financial institutions do a good job, when it comes assuring customers that they

have the necessary tools in their security stash to mitigate risks and guard their

customers.

• This is what online retailers should be doing too. Though it is still a question

whether some retailers have instilled this type of trust in their customers.

Prepare Before Threats Set In

• Retailers should change their practice methods of early detection and mitigation.

• The retail sector should understand and face the fact that data breaches will occur

every now and then and the only way to prevent them is by anticipating them.

• For example, take online shoe and clothing store Zappos.

• The U.S.-based retailer builds its security system expected to be compromised.

• So when data was hacked credit/debit card numbers, usernames, encrypted

passwords, and banking information were safeguarded and no consumers were

impacted.

• This practice method saved Zappos from falling victim to another massive data

breach and made the hack a nonevent.

Risk Training

• In addition to preventive-type training, risk training should be provided to security

teams at retailers and should focus on detecting and monitoring security threats.

• When prevention is unsuccessful, it happens on a massive scale, providing hackers

with an open, vulnerable environment to take advantage of.

Knowing the Best Security Practices

• Not all the best security practices are effective. They can be specific or broad for

certain vertical industries.

• Depending on a retailers resources and risk level, security practices should be

customized for each firm.

Safeguard the Corporate Network

• Today's reality is that companies are under constant attacks from determined and

diligent cyber criminals.

• Businesses need a military-style system to prevent cyber attacks from going

undetected.

• Retailers should adopt a determined approach, disciplined strategy, preventative

training, and a tactical military-style technique is needed to combat hackers.

Migrating from Old to New System

• It is a tedious job to completely overhaul and immediately enforce new POS

terminals inside every retail outlet. Instead, deploying one or at the maximum two

per outlet helps in advertising to customers that other options are also available.

Then continue setting up POS terminals at a consistent pace.

• This improves the security posture for retailers and reduces risks, ensuring that

customers are safe.

Use a Systematic Approach

• Retailers should migrate from using an old, weak system that leave them vulnerable

and unprotected from hacker.

• Some of such system include Microsoft Windows XP (recently stopped received

support from its manufacturer) and POS terminals that are littered with problems.

• It is irresponsible on the part of retailers, to allow these outdated technologies to

continue to be used in a retail company when a spate of safer solutions are at hand

at a low cost.

Co-operate with Others

• Given the fact that better technologies such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay offer a

more secure transaction, retailers can stop being self-serving.

• Some retailers still prefer to use their own payment solutions (for example,

Merchant Customer Exchange).

• This will deprive customers of better security and leave the door open for hackers

to enter and steal data.

More Info https://blog.whichssl.com/2013/03/the-impact-of-ssl-certificate-on-online-advertising/