'Net Features : holiday 2012

Site Security for the Holidays

Allison Howen — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:30:00 GMT

E-commerce retailers need to prepare their websites for not only an increase in traffic and conversions this holiday season, but also for online fraudsters.

While retailers should always watch out for cybersecurity threats during the holiday season, the growing usage of mobile makes this more important than ever before. This is because the number of transactions that originate from a mobile device has been on an uptick, and retailers who don’t have a system in place to manually accept or reject suspicious transactions increase the risk of fraud.

“Mobile consumers typically store their credit card information in retail accounts, rather than entering the information during each transaction, making online retail account takeovers more profitable, and therefore, more attractive to fraudsters,” said Alisdair Faulkner, chief products officer, ThreatMetrix. “During the holiday season in particular, consumers find it much more convenient to keep credit card information stored online as they make such a high volume of purchases. This is especially risky if consumers use the same email address and password for several websites – doing so initiates a trail of destruction that is equivalent to unlocking every door in the house, easily allowing criminals to hack numerous accounts at once.”

According to cybercrime prevention solutions provider ThreatMetrix, account takeover is among the biggest security threats attributed to the rising usage of mobile. This is because many retailers don’t have a mobile security strategy set in place and are not equipped to efficiently secure a large volume of mobile transactions during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which could make consumers’ account and credit card credentials vulnerable. Furthermore, retailers should watch out for “clean fraud,” which often passes security screens and appears to be a legitimate transaction, but is really a fraudster who is hiding behind a virtual private network (VPN) – making it difficult for retailers to identify authentic transactions.

“Cybersecurity should be a top priority for retailers this Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday season,” said Faulkner. “Especially with so many consumers traveling at this time, retailers need to put forth extra effort to assure transactions are originating from authentic networks. The last thing retailers and consumers want is to wake up on Black Friday with a ‘turkey hangover’ and a compromised credit card.”

Say Hello to Facebook Monday

Allison Howen — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:23:00 GMT

Some merchants are forgetting about Cyber Monday, and instead, are focusing their energy on “Facebook Monday.”

This is because a new survey from social commerce solutions provider Payvment reveals that Facebook merchants are optimistic that their storefronts will produce better sales this holiday season. In fact, the F-Commerce Facts survey reveals that 49 percent of Facebook sellers anticipate an increase in sales over last year, while only 13 percent expect a decline in sales.

Additionally, the survey found that 48 percent of Facebook merchants plan to run holiday promotions in order to boost sales. While 34 percent of merchants plan to offer free shipping, 23 percent plan to offer a 10 percent price discount and 18 percent plan to offer a discount of up to 20 percent. Furthermore, the study found that many merchants plan to leverage Facebook ads to capture their consumers’ attention. For example, 42 percent of the survey’s respondents report having used Facebook Ads in the past, and more than 65 percent of those respondents claim that they will use Facebook ads again – due to their effectiveness and customer acquisition results.

Other statistics worth noting show that F-commerce sellers are increasingly promoting their storefronts through other social channels, including Twitter and Pinterest. In fact, 35 percent of merchants use Twitter to drive traffic to their Facebook storefronts, while 20 percent of merchants use Pinterest to drive traffic. Other channels that F-commerce merchants use to promote their storefronts include their company website (32 percent), email (30 percent), print ads (8 percent), direct mail (9 percent) and search ads (7 percent).

According to the study, almost half of the respondents choose to sell on Facebook because it makes it easy to market to their consumers through deals and product promotions. However, 54 percent of the respondents like to sell on Facebook because their customers don't need to leave the social platform in order to make a purchase.

“With hundreds of thousands of small businesses now selling products on Facebook and many planning significant promotions and discounts for the holidays, Cyber Monday could very well become ‘Facebook Monday’ this year,” said Jim Stoneham, CEO of Payvment. “The data also shows that Facebook sellers are continuing to invest in promoting their storefronts via Facebook Ads, as well as offering deals and promotions and aggressively marketing their stores via other social channels such as Twitter and Pinterest.”

Google Predicts a “Nonline” Holiday Shopping Season

Allison Howen — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:16:00 GMT

As October is ending and November is quickly approaching, it is safe to say that retailers have one thing on their minds – the holidays.

However, merchants should be aware that the 2012 holiday season is going to be different than years past, at least according to Google. This is because the search engine giant is predicting that this year will be the first “Nonline” holiday season, which, according to Google’s blog, means that this year’s online and offline shopping experiences are going to be more seamless than ever before.

This is partly due to the rising popularity of mobile devices, which are increasingly being leveraged as shopping tools for consumers on the go. In fact, according to recent research from Google and Ipsos OTX, 4 in 5 mobile phone and tablet owners will use their devices to aid in holiday shopping. For example, 56 percent of tablet users will use their device to compare prices, while 44 percent of smartphone users will use their device to discover a nearby store based on location. This means that retailer’s with a mobile optimized website or an app are already a step ahead of their competition.

This multi-channel approach to shopping further proves that the lines between offline and online shopping experiences are blurring. This is especially true considering that the research also shows that 51 percent of shoppers will look up products online and then visit a store to make a purchase, while 32 percent will research online, visit a store to view the product and then return online to make the purchase. Conversely, 17 percent of consumers will first visit a store to view a product and then make the purchase online. This is why it is vital for retailers to maintain a consistent brand experience across all channels.

Another key take away from the study found that merchants should be prepared for early shoppers. This is because 54 percent of consumers are expected to start their shopping before Black Friday and 77 percent will start by the end of Black Friday weekend. The best way that merchants can capture the attention of early shoppers is by promoting their holiday deals before the shopping season officially kicks off on Black Friday.

All of this being said, the real take away from this study is that consumers are shopping anywhere and everywhere this holiday season, which is why merchant's should focus on providing their customers with a consistent experience across devices and platforms. By doing this, merchants have the ability to collect revenue and connect with their customers through more channels than ever before.