South Africa has the third highest rate of cybercrime victims worldwide, according to a report by international consulting company Accenture.
Ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a key concern for online shoppers is the safety of their personal information and credit card details.
For small businesses and ecommerce merchants, the implementation of website security measures is critical to building consumer trust and capitalising on Black Friday.
“Small businesses are the number one targets for hackers, due to their reputation for having poor security. Entrepreneurs often overlook web security because they consider it intimidating or expensive to implement. However, there are a variety of affordable and user-friendly security solutions for small businesses to invest in, such an SSL certificate,” says Thomas Vollrath, head of local web hosting company 1-grid.com.
An SSL certificate protects customer data by encrypting information like credit card details, logins, and other sensitive information, which prevents it from being accessed by unauthorised people on the internet. Visitors can identify an active SSL certificate by the lock icon that appears next to the website name on a web browser, and URL that begins with https:// instead of http://.
“With the pandemic forcing more people to shop online, consumers are savvier than ever about spotting secure websites and deciding where their money is safe. To promote sales this Black Friday, merchants need to highlight that they are protecting their customers’ data by displaying safe checkout badges and their SSL certificate, which prove it’s safe to shop with them,” says Vollrath.
In addition to protecting your customers, an SSL certificate also helps to increase your Google rankings. “Google favours HTTPS-encrypted websites and will rank them higher in search results. As a result, consumers are more likely to find your brand when searching for deals on products and services that you offer,” says Vollrath. “Google also warns users if they visit a domain that is not HTTPS secure, which will discourage consumers from making any payments on your website.”
For e-commerce merchants, integrating a third-party payment gateway into the checkout process is another way to give consumers peace of mind. “When it comes to Black Friday sales, a safe and simple payment process is key to avoiding abandoned shopping carts and traffic overloads. Since trusted payment gateways, such as PayFast, represent online safety in the eyes of consumers, they are more likely to click the ‘checkout’ button when it comes to it,” says Vollrath.
“Once people know that their information is protected, they are more likely to do business with you. Additional layers of security, such as two-factor authentication and one-time pins, let customers know that you have done the work on the backend to ensure their transactions go through safely. This empowers them to be confident when spending their money online,” says Vollrath.