‘Tis The Season For Omnicommerce

With Black Friday just a week away, the holiday shopping season is officially here. But with more customers looking to do their shopping across a multitude of channels, the threat of fraudsters looking to take advantage of the holiday shopping rush is also on the rise. In the November edition of the Vantiv Omnicommerce TrackerTM we explore how merchants are preparing for the spike in commerce and big fraud forecasts the holiday season may bring.

The Vantiv Omnicommerce TrackerTM, powered by PYMNTS.com, features industry-spanning research and insights that arm retailers with data to make smarter decisions for enabling omnichannel commerce.

THE FRAUD PREVENTION BALANCING ACT

The spending projection for this year’s holiday season may be promising, but as consumers’ shopping habits move from channel to channel, the burden of preventing fraud whenever and wherever weighs heavy on the merchants and the issuers who need to have fraud systems that move as fluidly as their customers do.

According to a recent study polling 1,000 shoppers, 50 percent said they would not return to a retailer during the upcoming holiday season if they experienced issues with online ordering throughout the previous calendar year – no matter how sweet the deals are. Omnishoppers are demanding a secure checkout experience that is as painless and seamless as possible, while knowing they will quickly search elsewhere if the experience is not provided.

This leaves merchants stuck walking the fine line of deploying the necessary security solutions to protect consumers from increased fraud threat but also ensuring these securing measures do not induce friction, which can easily drive consumers into the arms of another retailer.

In this month’s tracker we outline the myriad of solutions merchants are deploying to strike the perfect balance between safe and convenient transactions. From reducing false declines through the use of real-time fraud analytics tools to improving the ability to verify legitimate transactions with fully integrated authentication network platforms, merchants are pulling out all the stops to boost holiday sales without exasperating fraud.

Merchants are pulling out all the stops to boost holiday sales without exasperating fraud.

PARTNERING FOR AUTHENTICATION

As the holidays quickly approach, numerous merchants are also taking advantage of the opportunity to work collaboratively with cybersecurity firms to help minimize fraud in online and mobile shopping.

These strategic partnerships allow merchants to make the most of the many authentication and verification solutions security companies can bring to the table.

Authentication networks and anti-fraud technology providers seek to reduce the fraud risk of retailers by securing payments for both eCommerce and online operations, and in some cases cross-border transactions. Providing a secure and seamless shopping experience may help merchants to both capitalize on the surge in spending during the holidays and guarantee shoppers look no further to fulfill their shopping needs.

To download the November Omnicommerce Tracker, click here.

For more updates from Vantiv, click here.