Now Is The Time To Button Up Your Direct-To-Consumer Brand Data Security

Dan Wallace-Brewster, SVP Marketing at end-to-end e-commerce solution provider Scalefast.

In today’s retail world, if you have not suffered a data breach or security compromise, consider yourself lucky. More and more, e-commerce brands across categories fall victim to cyberattacks. In fact, over the past three years, retail has been one of the most targeted sectors for virtual sieges.

As online merchants, consumers entrust you with their personal information, making a strong data protection strategy a cornerstone of any successful e-commerce business. But, when even the Apples and Nikes of the world have difficulty fending off these attacks, it can seem hopelessly difficult for smaller direct-to-consumer (DTC) players to protect themselves and their customers. With the threat of breaches only continuing to rise, retailers of all sizes should not be deterred from shoring up their defenses.

Greater Security, No Matter What 

Regardless of a retailer’s size, the e-commerce storefront is really the only offering your consumer truly interacts with. Beyond a vehicle for sales and personalization, the storefront serves as the front line for the intake of customer data. When building this site, DTC brands and retailers should look for a platform that combines security and expert advice to protect themselves from a potential breach and ensure consumer trust is maintained.

When evaluating third-party vendors for the risk of breaches, retailers should look for a platform with technical experts on hand to help with security issues.

A team that actively monitors a store can detect issues before they arise and quickly fix them. Retailers should also look for a service that provides secure hosting — arguably the most important part of a platform. If a hacker tries to climb over the walls, the host should activate quickly, using backup services to restore data in the event of an attack.

Decrease Your Liability With Proper Payment Partners 

For hackers, nothing is more important than customer payment data. After all, what they are ultimately after is money, right? One way to mitigate risk and safeguard your customers’ data is by removing the temptation all together and keeping sensitive, personal information in a completely different place — with a payment gateway partner.

Payment gateways not only encrypt all consumer data but work across international borders to operate smoothly with any privacy policy. Expert advice comes into play here, too. A good partner likely has on-staff experts who take the time to understand a brand’s specific needs and create a unique, tailored plan to address them across the board. Here are a few critical factors to consider when choosing a payment gateway:

• Customers should feel safe and secure by transacting with a payment vendor that complies with PCI-DSS security standards.

• Fees for payment processing can be very impactful to the bottom line. Understand all set-up and transaction fees along with how they can change based on transaction volume or chargeback frequency.

• Easy checkouts are critical to maintaining optional cart conversion rates. Your gateway shouldn’t require redundant or unnecessary fields in the process. Also, milliseconds count. Processing should be transparent to the customer.

• We live in a global marketplace so payment processing should support a large international footprint, tender types and currencies. It should support non-traditional payments like mobile wallets as well.

• Subscriptions are an easy way for customers to replenish household staples or services. Your payment gateway should be able to easily handle the nuances of recurring payments.

Monitor, Monitor, Monitor And Take The Advice 

Technology is simply that — technology; a tool using science to mitigate risk or solve a problem. And while strong platforms and encrypting data are excellent foundations to protect your consumers, it is not always enough. A human perspective is crucial, too. Algorithms can sometimes overcorrect, hurting conversion or opening you up to too much risk. Human capital can help adjust risk tolerance for seasonal changes or higher-risk sales events.

Hackers are constantly adapting — honing their craft to pinpoint even the smallest weaknesses in your site. At the same time, because these breaches are becoming more frequent and more widespread, even the smallest DTC brands must be prepared to meet strict regulations across the world. Perhaps the most well-known is GDPR, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR and its U.S. iterations can be confusing and expensive to defend, so brands should seek expert advice to navigate it successfully.

Consultants on compliance abound but ultimately I recommend relying on licensed legal counsel to guide you on the localities you are operating in. From coordinating regulatory efforts with marketing and consumer engagement efforts to communication compliance details with consumers and customers, expert advice can serve as that guiding light. And, in turn, improve brand reputation and perception.

What’s To Come 

Data security is a must for brands and retailers. It is important, not only from a brand reputation perspective but also from a consumer confidence perspective, that consumer data is protected at all costs. Key decision makers at retailers big and small should ensure they have these processes nailed down to build success and keep their customers secure.

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