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When client data is taken, it only takes one mistake and one bad day to sink an eCommerce store. When this occurs, you may be held liable for any losses they sustain, as well as any further damages, fines, and fees to safeguard your business.
A hacker who gains access to your system has the ability to disrupt your business, shut it down quickly, or slowly continue to access consumer payment and personal data over an extended period of time. They may even try to blackmail you by locking your website and encrypting your files unless you pay a ransom. Many businesses have been unable to recover from such events.
1. Choose a secure e-commerce platform.
If you are starting a new e-commerce store or expanding an existing one, there are some substantial advantages to using or switching to a secure e-commerce platform rather than constructing your website from scratch. Millions of websites are powered by services like Shopify and WooCommerce, and their purpose is to make it as safe and easy as possible to sell products and maintain safe operations.
There are numerous tools and plugins available for these platforms that may be used to handle inventory counts, web pages, shopping carts, payment, and more. There are numerous popular options, and people provide unbiased feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Choosing a platform simplifies the search for supported systems for safeguarding a wide range of corporate activities, particularly payment and user data.
Platforms also make it easier for you or your designers and developers to manage all of the various e-commerce technologies required for success.
2. Platforms, plugins, and other components should be updated.
When it comes to tools, you will most likely be employing a lot to manage your e-commerce store. There are plugins and add-ons available to assist you in reducing spam and controlling user comments, migrating and backing up your site, duplicating pages, creating marketing, tracking Google Analytics, managing user accounts and shopping carts, and much more.
All of these must be kept up to date. If the developer of a plugin or utility no longer supports and maintains it, replace it. When you utilize an outdated version, there is a potential that someone has discovered a vulnerability and can exploit it to gain access to your site and client data. Outdated solutions may also fail to employ the most recent security techniques, leaving a security gap in your system.
Controlling your website and limiting the places where individuals can access it maliciously can keep your customers safe.
3. Use HTTPS.
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) protocol is the new standard for websites and secure Internet communication. It is one of the simplest things to obtain for your site and will go a long way toward keeping you safe.
The lock icon next to the URL in your browser indicates if a site is HTTPS enabled. Many browsers, including Chrome, now alert visitors when they are about to access a site that is not encrypted with HTTPS. You can obtain it from your hosting provider or from a platform such as Shopify or Squarespace if you use them to construct and manage your website.
Enabling HTTPS necessitates the purchase of a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) license – see the WebAlive SSL explanation for more information. This combination not only keeps your visitors safe and reduces the likelihood of someone stealing communications (such as payment card details), but Google will also rank you higher for having them.
4. Make use of a secure payment gateway.
Third-party payment gateways allow you to accept a variety of payments from your consumers without storing their credit card and payment information once the transaction is complete. This protects children by limiting where their data is stored on the Internet, and it protects you by reducing the chance of outside attacks.
Gateways route payments through a recognized payment partner, who handles all payment encryption and verification. It is feasible to do it yourself, but it will take substantial time and resources to store, process, and encrypt payment information. Running your own processing also necessitates meeting stringent regulatory regulations, which can vary depending on where you and your customers are located.
However, there is an added bonus here. Popular payment methods, such as PayPal, can give your clients confidence that your store is respectable and that their transactions will be secure. This may encourage someone to take the jump and make their first buy.
Make your policies and communications as transparent as possible.
There are variations to what people consider when making a website “safe” for ecommerce. Customers should not only be protected from outside threats and danger, but they should also feel safe shopping on your site.
So, our final recommendation to assist you to protect your consumers and revenue is to interact with them early and often. Show them anything you believe they will need, as well as whatever they ask to see. This entails making your return and refund policy clear and simple to understand. Put a link to it on every sales page or in your footer. If you have complicated shipping policies, use the same explanatory.
If you have a lot of traffic and satisfied customers, consider adding a section where people can submit reviews and rank things. Make it simple for other consumers to assist a potential buyer in deciding whether or not to click the “purchase” button.
Potential clients are more inclined to trust you if you are open and honest with them. Doing that work makes it easier to establish the trust required to send you an email for a discount or utilize your payment methods to complete a purchase.
You will be on the right track for e-commerce success if you can make people feel comfortable while also keeping their information private.