Great security is an essential component to any successful online store. Part of making the sale is simply convincing the customer that it’s safe to do business with you. Consumers are pounded on an almost daily basis with horror stories about online transactions gone wrong, so they look to you to create secure transaction. If you can’t offer them one, they’ll go right to your competitor who can.
Not only will good security increase your sales, it will protect you from fraudulent purchases, chargebacks, and other headaches. There are a number of important security technologies and standards you need to consider for your online store.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
SSL is one of the oldest, but still most useful, enhanced security measures for your online store. SSL makes sure that all of the sensitive information transmitted during a transaction is encrypted, and that it’s delivered only to the authentic owner of the SSL certificate. That means no hacking, no intrusion, and a comfortable feeling for your customer.
Today’s web customers are savvy. They know that if an online store’s URL doesn’t start with “https” that it’s not going to be a secure transaction. Yet, you’d be surprised just how many online stores aren’t even using SSL.
Verification
Part of the process of instilling customer trust is making sure the checkout process is visibly secure. In order to do this, you use verification fields. The most common, of course, is the address verification. While you most definitely need to require an address for your own protection, there are other verification methods that can be even more convincing.
One of the best is the CVV (also known as CCV or CVV2) verification. This requires the buyer to put in the three- or four-digit value on the back of their card during the checkout process. That insures the person filling out the payment information actually has physical access to the card, as the CVV doesn’t appear anywhere else except the back of the card.
Third-party certification and monitoring
Another great way to protect your business and establish customer trust is through third party security. Whether it’s a third party security verification credential, or whether it’s third party security monitoring, bringing in a reputable, objective onlooker creates a more accountable (and ultimately safer) transaction.
Proudly displaying that third party involvement will help put the customer at ease during the checkout process, as well.
Secure shopping carts
The back end of your online store needs to be secure. At a minimum, your shopping cart software should be PCI compliant. PCI compliance is the basic set of security requirements that the credit card companies ask for in merchant agreements. There are plenty of PCI-compliant cart back ends out there, many of which are open source. There’s really no excuse to use a cart that isn’t PCI compliant.
Protecting your customer also protects you
By making sure your online store uses enhanced security measures, you protect your customers from fraudulent transactions. You also increase your own sales, reduce chargebacks, and add to your business’ credibility.
David Rodwell writes on matters concerning credit card processing. You can find more of his articles located at CreditCardProcessing.net.
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