You love your shopper. That’s why you dedicate yourself to providing the best products and customer service on your ecommerce site. But did you know that lurking in your web traffic is a malicious force, hell bent on preying on your customer base?
It’s sad but true. Ecommerce sites are a prime target for hackers since they house personal and financial information on dozens, hundreds or maybe even thousands of customers. While privacy is a vital concern for store owners, it is also important to impress the importance of cybersecurity on your customers too. Here are a handful of tips to educate your buyers about better cybersecurity protocol.
Encourage Better Password Protocol
Passwords are the first level of defense for many ecommerce shoppers, yet too often online users create weak passwords, unknowingly exposing their information online or reusing their sign-in credentials on multiple platforms and services. Missteps like these can cause big problems for consumers. For example, weak passwords can easily be cracked by brute force attacks which flood a sign-in page with various alphanumerical combinations until access is achieved.
Similarly, shifty hackers will use stolen sign-in credentials on a number of websites to cause the most damage possible. Do your customers use the same email and password combination on your banking, business or social media pages? Just imagine the damage a hacker can do across their online accounts!
What ecommerce owners can do:
- Educate your customers about better password protocol when they create an account on your website.
- Flag multiple failed login attempts as this is a sign of brute force attack.
- Track IP addresses engaging in suspicious behavior. Report or block them if necessary.
Take Advantage of Authentication Layers
Nobody is perfect. Sometimes your customers will forget their password and fail to sign in by an honest mistake. Reassure them that their information is safe by using several verification layers before restoring their account.
What ecommerce owners can do:
- Ask a series of security questions before initiating password retrieval.
- Only send account information to the pre-determined email address your customer specified in their account creation.
- Send through a verification email along with steps to create a new password (never send the old password over email).
Provide Payment Options
With negative news coverage about financial theft hitting the headlines, some customers prefer not to share their credit or debit card information online. Don’t lose out on a sale to these savvy shoppers, offer them a chance to check out using PayPal, Verified by Visa or another trusted payment service.
What ecommerce owners can do:
- Grant payment via PayPal or another payment service provider.
- Allow visitors to check out using temporary guest account which does not save personal, shipping or financial information.
Brandish Your Trust Badges
Trust seals, also known as trust badges, reassures visitors that your website is legitimate by third-party verification. Research shows that nearly 70 percent of online shoppers cancel their orders because they do not trust the transaction. Don’t let this happen to you. Include badges from the Better Business Bureau, Norton, McAfee and Trustwave on your check out, contact and about us pages to let buyers know that their privacy and security is top of mind.
What ecommerce owners can do:
- Add trust seals to your ecommerce site.
- Experiment with adding them on homepage, check out screen and more.
Choose a Secure Ecommerce Platform
When you’re researching how to set up an ecommerce site with security in mind, it’s best to choose a platform that is built with PCI compliance. The Payment Card Industry compliance testing assures customers you have taken the necessary steps to keep their credit card information safe. Additionally, you’ll want to be sure your provider uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encrypted webpages to safeguard information transfer on your site. Just check the address bar. If it reads ‘https’, your site is protected.
What ecommerce owners can do:
- Ensure that your site is PCI compliant.
- If you use a third-party payment processing, make sure they are following the correct protocols to protect your customers’ financial information as well.
- Always use SSL encryption on your site.
- Avoid website redirects to unencrypted sites.
We hope these tips have shown you how to set up an ecommerce site that prioritizes privacy and security. Rest easy. Now your buyers can check out with confidence.