The present years are definitely the age of online stores where eCommerce businesses take a significant part of the revenue pie of physical stores. In fact, eCommerce has added extraordinary growth to commerce in general since sales volume has increased by 22%, and more than 350 million items are sold online on a daily basis.
The main advantage of having an eCommerce website is the ability to offer 24/7 access to international customers and providing quick and secure online commerce. However, with that comes 24/7 risks as well. In order to maintain your success in the eCommerce business, you must protect it accordingly.
That means keeping your customers’ data secure is essential, which is crucial for maintaining their trust and a positive image by partners, website-ranking institutions, product suppliers, etc. Security of your eCommerce website should always be your number one priority when running an online business.
1. Get A Custom-Made eCommerce Commercial Insurance Package
When being an online store owner, you might think you’ve avoided plenty of liability with the fact that your store is online and not a brick-and-mortar one. However, you still face almost all of the risks as every retail store. Consequently, by having the right eCommerce business insurance, you earn protection against damaged stock, product liability lawsuits, or similar unexpected expenses.
eCommerce insurance will offer you financial protection against all the risks you are subject to as an online business owner. As an eCommerce business owner, you need to have an insurance policy that’s able to withstand customer relations, international shipments, and general liabilities.
It will protect your online business against risks connected with selling products online, like cyber risks, property damage, or even bodily injury. Furthermore, if you run a drop-shipping company or you are a member of a chain of distribution, make sure all your manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors are properly insured.
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2. Pick A Secure eCommerce Platform
eCommerce platforms are generally chosen because of their range of design, storefront-building convenience, and serviceability, but their security features must be on top of mind as well. You should search for proven eCommerce solutions that offer SSL certificates, encrypted payment gateways, and strong authentication protocols for buyers and sellers.
A good thing is that cloud-based security platforms made security easily accessible to small and midsize businesses. Nowadays, you can get the benefits of tools like machine learning, and a carefully selected set of rules that the cloud-based platforms have set up.
Think of the long-term practicability of the eCommerce platform and find out how often updates and security patches are added to check the lasting security of the service. You should also consider scalable eCommerce platforms that can expand and address your business’s future needs.
Consequently, by having the right eCommerce business insurance, you earn protection against damaged stock, product liability lawsuits, or similar unexpected expenses.
3. Use HTTPS
HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure or HTTPS is the online protocol for safe communication over the internet and one of the easiest solutions to secure your eCommerce website from fraud. Appointed by a closed green lock icon on the browser address bar, HTTPS websites are considered secure and authentic because they’re certified.
It means that the website truly is what it’s claiming to be and not a fake website established online to lure users so hackers can take their login information, credit card data, and etc. The benefits of using HTTPS go beyond security and credibility.
Google grants secure HTTPS websites a better search ranking, which leads to more visitors. On the contrary, Google labels unencrypted websites as unsafe and that makes them appear inadequate and unreliable.
4. Never Store Sensitive User Data
Buyer’s privacy and personal data are of prime importance and today major technology companies are focused on maintaining users’ data private and secure. Customer privacy is even more essential in eCommerce. Businesses need customer data to better their communications and product lines and to make it easy to return purchases. The risk is that hackers or other cybercriminals target exactly that user data.
The main rule is to only gather data that’s helpful for the purposes of accomplishing the transaction. Companies should avoid the temptation of gathering more customer data than what’s necessary.
Hackers and cybercriminals can’t take what isn’t there, so the valuable financial and personal data of your users must be kept safe and off of your online servers. In case you need to store certain data, then make sure it’s stored in a secure, online storage depository that considers best practices when it comes to storing and protecting information.
Final Words
Protecting your eCommerce business is never a one-and-done deal. Threats and hacking methodologies evolve at an alarming rate, so you need to maintain your awareness and keep up with the latest methods of securing your eCommerce website.