Nowadays, more consumers prefer the convenience brought by mobile E-commerce. The idea of being able to shop for necessities and luxuries with a few taps is what makes it appealing.
This shift in consumer preference is also advantageous for business owners because many can now operate businesses and connect with customers without needing to open a physical store thus saving more money.
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, which is the sale of goods and services between businesses in online channels, has also not been left behind. Instead of receiving orders and transacting using traditional ways, B2B e-commerce does all this digitally. This helps to lower the amount of overhead cost.
However, since mobile e-commerce collects sensitive data from consumers, it is becoming an obvious target of individuals with ill intent. With this in mind, business owners who use mobile B2B E-commerce platforms must take necessary precautions to protect their business and customers.
On that note, if you are interested in knowing what threats are looming around mobile E-commerce platforms and the necessary precautions needed to mitigate those risks; you are on the right page. Continue reading this article to know more about data security in B2B mobile e-commerce.
When you do business using a mobile E-commerce platform, you are bound to collect sensitive information from your B2B clients. Some of these are their names, address, and most importantly, their billing information.
When this data falls into the hands of people with evil intent, it is bound to cause a lot of damages not only to your business but also to other businesses. With that in mind, here are the two biggest data security threats in mobile E-commerce that you should avoid at all costs:
Commerce Fraud
Commerce fraud is quite common in the entire B2B E-commerce industry regardless of the niche and sales channel. According to reports, business owners with mobile e-commerce can lose around $3.50 for every dollar taken due to fraud.
Not only that, but it can also cause other problems such as the following:
Checkout friction has caused over $1.8 trillion worth of abandoned shopping carts yearly. It refers to any instances that prevent lead conversion. Examples of this can be typos made during the checkout process or slow website speed.
There are some situations where business owners take too much caution and automatically decline transactions that show patterns of fraud. Unfortunately, there are some cases where even legitimate transactions are also declined. This can cause owners to miss out on what could have been a successful sale.
One of the biggest problems with B2B commerce fraud is brand damage. A data breach will create an image for the consumer that your brand is not trustworthy. This will prevent them from buying from you again and sway the opinion of other potential leads.
The other big threat to data security in mobile E-commerce is mobile malware. There was a recent Android malware that targeted the vulnerability of Google Authenticator. This enables hacks to access customer’s online finance accounts and bypass security.
There are no ironclad methods to avoid data security threats in mobile B2B E-commerce. However, what you can do is add multiple layers of protection against the threats mentioned above. Here are some tips on how to do that:
2FA is one of the most widely used mobile channel fraud-prevention. It requires customers to input a one-time validation code sent to their mobile phones to serve as verification for owners before they approve their orders.
Although 2FA adds an extra layer of protection of customer’s data, it is nowhere perfect. One of its biggest vulnerabilities is exploited by SIM swap attacks. This happens when fraudster’s hijack the phone number of the customer. As a result, they can break into the financial and social media accounts of the customer and begin taking away money from their bank accounts.
Dealing with data security threats in mobile B2B E-commerce must also include cooperation with the customers. One way of doing that is by informing them about how they can improve their data security while shopping.
To do this, you can create pop-ups on your platform reminding them not to share sensitive data. You can also include data security information in your email marketing campaigns.
When it comes to online accounts, one of the best ways to prevent a data breach is to require account owners to use strong passwords. This can be quite effective for shopping accounts.
You can implement this on your mobile E-commerce platform during the sign-up process. You can give the account owner the choice of creating their password or having one permanently assigned to them.
A strong password must have the following features:
Time is of the essence when it comes to data security threats in Mobile E-commerce. This is why you must pay attention to the fraud grievances reported to you by your customers. Do not wait to the extent where their reports will become viral on social media platforms before taking any action.
Also, by making sure that you address each fraud grievance promptly, you prevent the same thing from happening to other clients. This will also show how responsive and excellent your customer service is and foster positive customer relationships.
The rise of mobile E-commerce will not be stopped just because of data security threats. It is expected to continue to boom rapidly in the coming years. However, B2B e-commerce brands should educate themselves about these threats and take the necessary precautions.
Hopefully, you have a proper understanding of what these threats are and what are the necessary steps you have to take. Although there is no assurance that you will be 100% protected from this threat, the important thing is that you do your best to avoid future damage to your business and customers.