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7 Tips for Safe Online Transactions

Category: Growth Hacks

7 Tips for Safe Online Transactions

7 Tips for Safe Online Transactions

There are many reasons to be vigilant while making payments online. Online frauds are on a historic rise these days. According to a shocking statistic from Juniper Research in 2016, up to 70% of all types of credit card frauds are mainly the card not present (CNP) transactions.

Both merchants and customers are targeted by these scammers in the United States. In the September month alone of 2014, 52% of total online attacks were recorded in the US. According to Juniper, the major factors leading to the astounding rates of online payment frauds are use of mobile payments, unprecedented growth of e-commerce, manifold increase in money flows worldwide, data breaches and Card Not Present fraud influx.

There are different types of fraud in the e-commerce space and those frauds include clean fraud, account takeover, triangulation fraud, affiliate fraud, Merchant fraud, identity fraud, and reshipping.

Here are seven tips for safe online transactions.

1. Use advanced anti-malware program
It will protect both classified and unclassified attacks on your computer and other digital devices you are using. Make sure your anti-malware program is updated or its auto update option is “on”. Make sure that the antivirus program is able to detect newly created and mutated malware threats even before it’s included in the database of the automatic updates.

2. Watch out for security vulnerabilities in your PC
Some of the malware programs are designed to manipulate the security vulnerabilities in the OS and web browsers and steal your financial data. You can run System Mechanic security optimizer, which will detect and fix such vulnerabilities in both the web browser and the operating system. Always keep your web browser and operating system up to date.

3. Make sure you are using a secure connection
When you are using a secured connection the URL begins with https://, but in all other cases it begins with http://. So make sure you are using https.

4. Deal with reputed websites only
Do not directly pay to any website unless you know about it. The advanced security features used in payment processor such as PayTabs will prevent your financial information from getting into wrong hands.

Using PayTabs is the best way to stay protected against suspicious websites and online crooks. The advance security features used by PayTabs will make sure that your confidential financial information is safe without any possibility of leaking.

5. Use credit cards for online shopping
There is a word of caution for all online shoppers: Make sure you perform online shopping using a credit card and not a debit card. What makes using debit card extremely risky is the fact that it is linked to your bank account.

With spending limit, credit cards cannot be misused to the extent a debit card can be. It is pretty easy to dispute fraudulent charges on a credit card as compared to recovering the money taken out from a debit card.

These days, onetime use credit cards are also in fashion. These cards are designed specifically for online shopping.

6. Do not use public computers
In order to maintain security during online transactions, make sure that you’re using your own computer or mobile device. Do not use the computers installed at public libraries or internet cafes, as these computers can easily be manipulated by tweaking its hardware or software.

7. Set a strong and complex password
Don’t use common passwords or the password that can easily be guessed. Use a combination of alphanumeric and special characters and make sure the password length is more than 6 digits.

Final words
If you suspect that your credit card has been misused, you can immediately inform your bank. If you are in the US, you can contact agencies like Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. The sooner you report, the better it is. Your alarm bells should ring if the offer given is too good to be true. Always buy from a trusted vendor and check their address and contact details.

5 Reasons You Need To Use a Fast Shipping Partner

5 Reasons You Need To Use a Fast Shipping Partner

The e-commerce landscape is changing drastically every now and then. With faster options of delivery, the shift is towards instant gratification and reducing the wait time.
Many e-commerce giants are bringing innovation to their delivery systems, so as to facilitate the curious new generation of customers, who want instant gratification. The drive to bridge the gap between physical stores and e-commerce stores is primarily responsible for speeding the vehicle of e-commerce.

Fast delivery is an essential element of fulfilling your business obligations, where customers give you a deadline. Gone are the days, when people would wait for 5 to 7 days for delivery. Nowadays, it’s considered too long a time except for a few categories such as books or software that are not easily available at the local stores.

Here are five benefits of using a fast shipping partner that will help merchants grow their online businesses further.

  1. Branding

Imagine that a customer is flying in the next three day and would like to order a dress on an e-commerce store. If the delivery option says that it cannot be delivered before 4-5 business days, it will be of no use. She will need an e-commerce vendor who can deliver it in less than two working days. And if you are such a vendor, it will not only help you gain competitive advantage in terms of branding and customer service, you’ll most likely attract more customers in future.

  1. More sales

There are many customer types these days and among them, people craving instant gratification form a sizable chunk. If you are able to deliver quickly, you will definitely be able to catch hold of this additional chunk. Besides that, you can also charge extra for faster delivery and that will definitely add to your revenues.

  1. Lesser inventories

When you offer faster delivery options, your inventory immediately goes down, making you a lean and thin organization with a short order cycle time. It will help you to manage your business more efficiently without having to worry about managing a large inventory base.

  1. Better service to urban shoppers

With same day delivery, e-commerce giants are already working hard to grab the lion’s share of the market often referred to as urban shoppers. Faster delivery will make life easy for time-constrained urban customers and this way, online retailers will get access to a large niche without spending a single penny in advertising. Major online retailers for example are working hard to improve their services in urban areas, where they have regular customers with purchasing power.

  1. Build customer trust

The other benefits of fast delivery include the customer trust you gain and the word of mouth publicity you achieve. Your ability to deliver much faster than your competitors will make sure that you get the required attention, and customers will start flocking to you.  Customer trust also translates into free advertising and referrals, which increases your sales in geometric progression.

In order to do it, your shipping partner should be reliable and fast. Orders should in no way get lost or confused in the process of speedy delivery. Make sure that delivery is not only safe and cost-effective, but is also transparent and customer-oriented.

5 Tips for Improving User Experience at Your Web Store

5 Tips for Improving User Experience at Your Web Store

When we talk about user experience, we can broadly divide it into the following categories:

  • Convenience
  • Flexibility

These are the two major factors on which the entire user experience is based. People look for convenience while shopping online or using an e-commerce site. If the site offers everything that the customer might be looking for, keeping their convenience in mind, people will love using the site. The same is true for another factor – flexibility, which is applicable when people look for different options.

Nobody wants to be conditioned to use a limited set of options, which might be quite inconvenient sometimes.

1.Keep your payout speed fast

E-commerce world is going through a sea change as more and more people are moving from traditional jobs to freelance and online jobs. They earn their livelihood through offering gigs and working remotely for others. In such a scenario payout speed of your site becomes extremely important, as your users need to pay their monthly bills.

User experience is everything in this case and the popularity of your platform largely depends on how well the platform pays its users.

2.Make use of targeted keywords

Convenience can be of different types and ease of access and search ability of your website is the topmost factor. We can achieve visibility in organic search through targeted keywords. It is not only important for SEO but also to attract online crowds through different channels. We need to keep in mind that most of the people are looking for a product using their mobile phones so misspelled words and voice search are extremely important, and we should take care of them while defining the targeted keywords.

3Arrange the placement of search bars

It is extremely important how your search bars are placed on a page during site navigation. In E-commerce sites, there are various filters you can use to search for the product you are looking for. Every section and filter has an adjacent search bar, which can be scrolled up and down or right and left. It helps you view the entire list, grid or web page. It makes the site easy to navigate, view, and find the right information.

4. Keep your product display captivating
Every effort should be made to highlight the product you are selling. A well displayed product has a higher probability of selling. So, everything that might help you in displaying your product in a better way will help you in improving your customer experience. From HD pictures to HD videos, 360 degree views, GIFs and anything else that helps your customer get a better idea about the product will help you.

5.Make sure checkout is smooth 

One major part of user experience is the checkout process. If the customer feels that the checkout process is not smooth and quick, they will not leave your site in a happy frame of mind. It may also prevent them from visiting your site next time. The same is true for customer experience with your payment gateway. The overall experience includes the ease of choosing the right product, time taken to move a product to the cart and finally making the payment to complete the order.

There are many things that make your checkout smooth and convenient, such as the functionality to store your card information. With this arrangement, the customer doesn’t have to enter the card details every time they make payment. Don’t redirect them to another site to complete payment. Try your best to keep the customer on your site, unless it’s warranted due to security reasons.

If you take care of all these things, it will dramatically improve your user experience and will help your site to attract more traffic and convert more customers. That’s probably the reason user experience is also one of the major factors that influences SEO.

7 Valuable Tips to Make E-commerce Payments Easier For Customers

7 Valuable Tips to Make E-commerce Payments Easier For Customers

It’s common knowledge that a better user experience on an e-commerce website leads to swift transactions, conversions, and sales. Yet, we have identified many e-commerce websites where making payment is not so easy and swift. Sometimes, a bug prevents users from quickly getting redirected to the payment page after they enter their payment information. This may frustrate even a genuine and loyal customer. If it happens more than once, the customer is not likely to come to your website again.

The checkout process is extremely critical, so e-commerce vendors should be extremely careful in this last and final stage of closing the sale. They should make sure that there is nothing that might prevent, distract or lead to bad user-experience on the checkout page.

If the entire customer experience is swift and smooth, a window shopper is likely to become your customer. However, if it is not the case, even a genuine customer may bounce off. Some vendors think that their responsibility is over once they slap a popular gateway on the payment page. If you do not have the full control on your entire checkout process, you are not likely to increase conversions and sales.

Let’s discuss a few ways to make the payment process easier for your customers.

  1. Creating an account should be optional

Several websites make it mandatory to create an account before a visitor lands on the eStore and decides to make a purchase. They do not allow users to purchase in guest mode. Largely because their marketing agencies tell them that it’s very important to retrieve the contact details of visitors. I agree, but there are several ways to collect this information and forcing them to create an account should not be mandatory.

According to Smashing magazine, there are many people who do not wish to set up an account with e-commerce sites, because of the fear of getting their inbox filled with spam and promotional emails. Another reason why people do not like to create an account is that while shopping at brick and mortar stores, nobody forces them to create an account before they make a purchase.

Sometimes it is the length of the form that distracts a customer. So make sure that your customer information form is as short as possible. Have you seen Facebook’s sign up form? It has just 4 entries in it.

  1. Consistency in web design

Maintain consistency across your website including your checkout page. It is not only good for branding but it will also prevent the skeptical people from leaving the website. People become skeptical after going through the horror stories of scams taking place all across the globe.

  1. Convince the customer about security and privacy

According to a study by eConsultancy, more than 60% of the participants abandoned the E-Commerce sites on the checkout page, primarily because they had some concerns about payment security. In order to assure such people, you should maintain a consistent design and shouldn’t redirect people to a third party website. Use secure socket layer certificate on your website and make sure that you comply with PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). It enhances the customer confidence.

  1. Make it easy for people to correct the errors 

While filling up their personal and financial information on the payment page, users might mistype and enter incorrect details. Usually, the error message flashes on top of the page and users are not able to see that. Instead, if only the particular field is highlighted, it will make it easier for the user to fix it.

  1. Ask for the information that is essential

Make sure that you do not ask unnecessary details and keep it to the bare minimum. According to a report published by Forrester, more than 11% of adults in the United States abandon an e-commerce site, when they are faced with a long form to fill up.

  1. Do not redirect your customers

Psychologically, people love branding – it includes the site layout, design, look and feel. They might feel a little uncomfortable, when they are redirected to another website to just complete the funnel. They might think that it will take additional time to complete the procedure, even if it is a part of same funnel.

  1. Prevent distractions on the checkout page

When the customer is at the end and the most critical stage of buying cycle, there shouldn’t be any distractions as customers have very little attention span these days.  A little distraction can take them off to somewhere else and they might change their mind.

Final thoughts
So, if you are really serious about shopping cart abandonment, make it easier for people to pay. As a thumb rule, follow this: “I have to turn window shoppers into paying customers.”

5 Reasons to Accept Multiple Types of Payments

5 Reasons to Accept Multiple Types of Payments

It is impossible to miss how all kinds of businesses are going online these days, all over the world. This is primarily because an online store guarantees to connect you with countless customers from your own country as well others, making your business a more successful venture than ever before. While you are excited about offering your products and services to worldwide shoppers, you should not overlook the fact that providing these shoppers multiple payment options is mandatory these days. And consequently, you need a payment gateway like PayTabs that offers alternative payment options and accepts almost all currencies. Why you say? Read on to know the reasons!

  1. To boost your revenue

Offering multiple payment methods to your customers means they will have a better time shopping from your ecommerce store. This is because they will be able to pay whichever way they want, without having to face issues like “Only credit card accepted” and so on. And the more they buy, the more your revenue will shoot up! For instance, PayTabs is a global payment gateway that accepts multiple currencies and offers a wide array of payment options like American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Sadad, Mada, Union Pay, WeChat Pay, Alipay, and K-net.

  1. To keep old customers hooked

Just because your existing customers use a debit or credit card to make purchases from your online store right now doesn’t mean that they won’t look for a card-less payment option in the future! And this is where using a payment gateway that offers quick and safe transactions without any card can be beneficial.

  1. To secure new and repeat customers

By offering multiple payment methods, you will also be able to attract new customers who prefer digital payments using e-wallets. And because gateways like PayTabs also accepts a huge number of currencies, your business will appeal to both domestic and international customers. The number of repeat customers will also go up because once a shopper experiences payment convenience at your store, he will keep coming back for more. For example, if a customer finds that he can easily buy a burger from you through mobile payment wouldn’t he want to do that again? Of course he will!

  1. To promote convenience and sell more

A friction-less shopping experience is all that a shopper wants. And as a merchant, you can offer multiple payment options to make this happen. In other words, if a customer wants to pay through debit card, he should be able to pay through a debit card. Offering this convenience will encourage shoppers to buy more and buy more frequently. If you couple this with discounts and coupons, your sale figure will go through the roof!

  1. To diminish overhead costs

Instead of putting in a lot of money for one expensive payment method, you can go for different payment methods which include low-cost options as well. Especially, if you are the owner of a small business in a risky industry and face a low volume of transaction, you should go for a wide array of payment options to bring in more customers and keep your overhead costs low.

Last but not the least; using a payment gateway that offers many different payment methods will mean increased cash flow. And you surely know that any business can benefit from a healthy cash flow and tide over emergencies easily. So, consider PayTabs as your gateway, offer more “payment choices” to your customers and gain a definite edge over your competition.