Merchant Advice

The internet may have spawned a whole new way to shop, which has provided thousands of brands with an opportunity to sell to customers it otherwise couldn’t reach, and now, with the world and his wife engaging in social media, many brands have taken the opportunity to sell via Facebook, but is this a good idea?

Switching to a different Payment Service Provider might seem like a lot of effort, however when you are constantly experiencing problems with your current provider, switching suppliers could save you the hassle as well as money.

Nobody likes paying; but nothing can kill the excitement of getting your hands on what you are looking for online than having to go through a long, complicated and at times, failed payment process. For customers, it can elicit a range of responses – embarrassment, stress, anger, frustration and of course, so common in some areas of online retail, abandonment of the transaction.

In an increasingly competitive domestic market, many UK retailers are seeking to expand overseas.  SecureTrading, a leading independent payment processor, suggests the top 5 tips for successful international ventures.

You may remember our previous blog on the upcoming European Directive on the use of cookies. The law applies to how you use cookies and similar technologies for storing information on a user’s equipment such as their computer or mobile device is changing on 26 May 2011. In preparation for this the Information Commissioner has issued a new document that sets out these changes and explains what steps you need to take now to ensure you comply.

The news that fraudsters have obtained the data of 75 million online video gamers, including more than three million Britons, after targeting Sony’s PlayStation Network shows that businesses need to pay closer attention to the protection of cardholder data. There is little excuse for data breaches on this scale as online merchants can protect card details and should look at using Tokenisation, an additional encryption capability that replaces sensitive data with unique identification symbols. The token can be accessed by the merchant for reporting and future purchases, but the credit card details remain secure at all times.

Is there something you just haven't got round to yet or do you manage to get everything done? Either way share your thoughts with other e-commerce merchants - you may help someone just like you or you may pick up a gold nugget of advice!

Earlier this year, the Information Commissioner said that UK businesses must wake up to new EU law on cookies. However, this news has left businesses scratching their heads and in a Catch-22 situation. The new law requires websites to gain informed consent before using cookies; however, businesses won’t know what to do for sure until the Department of Culture, Media and Sport issues guidance – and this isn’t likely to be until the end of May. And this is where the confusion lies...

We can appreciate that switching providers or selecting a payment gateway can be a scary prospect, but when you’re constantly experience problems, switching suppliers could be the best thing you ever did. We thought a summary of why you should switch to SecureTrading would make it a little easier for you to make that step...

I have one hot tip from reading through these reports – something most sane non-security people will have no time to do: Unless you have a very robust technology and security team at your disposal, my advice is to outsource your payment card processing and PCI Data Security compliance to a provider who knows what they’re doing and who will help manage the risks for you.

Almost everyone with a website wants to be number 1 in the search engines, which of course isn’t possible. That’s why Google make $24bn a year and are currently doubling that number every two years. Whether you’re contributing to this figure by advertising with them or not, optimising your site to do better in the natural (non paid) search engine results pages is a good idea if you want to succeed/grow/do more of what you do. Here are seven things you can do today.

The news that a selection of Lush customers who shopped at its online store between October and January have had their card details stolen shows that retailers need more support in understanding the protection of cardholder data. Problems like this not only do potential long-term damage to a strong and successful brand, but are also completely avoidable...

Repeat purchases are great; you don’t have to fork out money to attract new customers and it reassures you that you are doing something right. Some of the more obvious things that influence the chance of a repeat purchase are product choice and stock availability, the website’s design and usability and its customer service. But what else is there? What is less obvious?

Whilst getting people to visit is an ingredient for success in e-commerce, turning browsers into buyers is the key. Lots of time and money gets spent on design, on optimising the checkout process and all the tricks of the trade are endlessly debated. But one area never seems to get a look in: payments.

We take the issues of fraud very seriously at SecureTrading. Fraudsters are becoming ever more sophisticated and it is vital to try and keep one step ahead by using a wide range of preventative measures.

In the (not so good) old days a bad supplier was a nuisance and caused obvious headaches - poor service, overcharging, unfair terms etc. - however you may well have been able to shield your customer from the worst of the supplier's shortcomings. When the customer buys from you online concealing the consequences of a bad supplier is often impossible.

The use of secure online payments is likely to increase this Christmas as a bumper year has been predicted for online retailers.

You may have seen in the news yesterday, that the PCI Security Council has released version 2.0 of the PCI Data Security Standard and Payment Application Standard.

But it's only October I hear you cry!! Actually Christmas is only 2 months away. Scary. Now is the perfect time to review your website and make sure it's ready for the Christmas rush. For most retailers Christmas is the busiest time of the year. Last Christmas £5.46 billion was spent. We're crossing our fingers and toes that this year will be even better. So what should you do? We have compiled a list of tips to get you going.