Even with an effective development platform, a great range of products, fantastic marketing and a well-designed site, an eCommerce business is still nothing if it cannot effectively (and securely) process payments for orders placed online. ?To better understand this reality,?we asked Stephanie Wallat (Business Leader, eCommerce at Visa Canada)?to share her advice, insight and experience on this critical component of online retail.
To access the other sections of our coverage on this topic, please consult the index of?the?Dx3 Digest Guide to eCommerce in Canada.
1. What areas of eCommerce is Visa involved in?
?Visa is involved in payments, from its network to fraud management to products/services, and works with all stakeholders in the payments ecosystem to facilitate electronic payments.
?Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world?s most advanced processing networks ? VisaNet ? that is capable of handling more than 24,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa?s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products.
?2. Why (or why not) does your company see eCommerce as important to Canadian business in general?
?The widespread adoption of the Internet and eCommerce has changed the way people and businesses connect and transact globally opening up new channels to buy and sell goods online.
eCommerce enables transactions and payments in a more convenient and efficient way through electronic payments and digital currency promoting economic growth not only in Canada but around the world. eCommerce allows businesses to expand their reach beyond the traditional brick and mortar stores to engage with consumers wherever and whenever they want making shopping faster and easier which can lead to more sales for businesses that offer goods and services online.?
Online is one of the faster growing channels for Visa along with mobile which is also a key driver behind the rapidly evolving eCommerce landscape. Visa recently commissioned a study looking at the benefits of electronic payments in the Canadian Economy in conjunction with IHS Global Insight. Key findings from the research found that innovations in the way we pay for goods and services have contributed C$196 billion to the economy over the last 25 years.? Specific to eCommerce, B2C online growth will continue to experience double digit growth each year and reach almost $35 billion in sales in 2016.?
?3. What are some common misconceptions many Canadian businesses have surrounding eCommerce?
Some Canadian businesses think eCommerce is too much work (and forgo exploring it altogether) or fail to implement the appropriate security approach to managing payments online.
?Many Canadian businesses, particularly smaller businesses, assume that they do not need to have a website or to sell online. Too often businesses underestimate the importance of having an online presence and how to use this channel effectively to engage consumers and increase their sales. The first place consumers often go to find out more about a company is online to conduct a search and if they can?t find your site or make a purchase online, it?s potentially a lost sale.
The top two websites that Canadian internet users visit are Google.ca and Google.com4 And according to Statistics Canada, ?74% of internet users used the Internet for ?window shopping or browsing for information on goods or services.?5 Also, some businesses are of the mindset of ?build it and they will come? without realizing that there needs to be a solid strategy behind continuously promoting your site to reach the right target audience. With the convergence of online, mobile social and physical payment environments, consumers are purchasing across the various channels so businesses need to have an integrated omni-channel strategy to make it easier for consumers to engage and transact.
Another common misconception is that businesses perceive eCommerce as too onerous. While payments can seem complex for those new to accepting cards online, there are many resources and solutions available to help companies navigate the payments landscape whether they need to fully outsource or just enhance their website. If a business already has a brick and mortar presence, they should talk to their acquirer or payment provider who can facilitate the process of extending payment acceptance to online. For new businesses, particularly those in the small to medium size segment, companies like Authorize.net can help streamline the online payment acceptance process. And for eCommerce site enablement, there are many platform providers and shopping cart vendors to provide businesses with as little or as much as they need to get started.
Many businesses do not think they will be a target so either put off becoming fully PCI compliant or do not always implement the appropriate tools to mitigate online fraud. To decrease these risks, several tips, tools and solutions are readily available to guide merchants through the efforts required to safeguard card data or reduce their payment fraud risk which will in turn protect customers as well as their own businesses. Merchants relying on third parties also need to ensure that these businesses are secure as well. Merchants should start with their acquirer or payment provider to get the support and expertise they need. Visa offers resources including its Account Information Security (AIS) program for PCI compliance and information about industry security standards is available from the PCI Security Standards Council. Other payment fraud security tools and tips are on Visa?s website or from one of its affiliates such as CyberSource or Authorize.net.
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4. How does your company help businesses either get into eCommerce, or improve their existingeCommerce endeavours??
?Visa and its affiliated companies ? CyberSource, Authorize.net, Playspan ? help businesses either get into eCommerce or enhance their eCommerce. Businesses, however still need to work with an acquirer or payment provider to process their payments.
For businesses getting into eCommerce, Visa offers payment management solutions from gateway connectivity to fraud mitigation to optimized checkout services. Visa also provides resources for merchants from tips and best practices to expertise. The foundation of Visa is its leading industry network known for its security, reliability and convenience to ensure that payments are processed quickly and efficiently all the time. Contributing to convenience is the enablement of payments across all channels (online, mobile, point of sale, recurring, telephone and mail order) and global acceptance so that consumers can purchase from wherever they are, however they want.
Visa continuously invests in innovation and looks to provide the products and services that provide more choice and value whether by ?expanding its product set to include Visa debit that can be used online, to offering services like Visa Account Updater (VAU) that provide merchants with real time updated card information, to delivering innovative ways to pay through digital commerce.
Recently, Visa launched V.me ? a new digital wallet service ? that can be used to make purchases with the click of a mouse or touch on a mobile browser. Currently available at several leading merchants in the U.S. and coming soon to Canada. V.me streamlines the checkout process for consumers and merchants and delivers the security, reliability and convenience they?ve come to expect from Visa. As merchants look to make it easier for their customers to buy goods and services, V.me helps retailers deliver a consistent consumer shopping experience however they shop ? via mobile, online and eventually the point of sale, decrease shopping cart abandonment, receive payments via online or mobile and increase customer engagement by offering promotions and offers as well as access to sophisticated merchant analytics and dashboard tools.
?These are only a few examples of the offerings for merchants with many more available whether its loyalty programs, co-marketing, mobile payments, commercial solutions or security.
?Security is fundamental to Visa. Visa invests heavily in advanced fraud-fighting technologies and develops and deploys various fraud mitigation and data security solutions, services and programs that protect merchants including its payment management solutions as well as the Account Information Security (AIS) and payment service provider (PSP) programs. AIS helps protect Visa cardholder data ? wherever it resides ? ensuring that the highest information security standards are kept. The Visa AIS Program addresses essential system-wide security issues and provides a proven, cost-effective methodology and documentation with which immediate improvements can be made with respect to the integrity of operations. Through the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers, Visa clients, merchants and payment system participants can reference the registry to verify that entities are registered and compliant with security standards before engaging their services. A layered approach to security together with the right fraud mitigation tools can help merchants grow their businesses with fast, secure transactions. In fact, enhancements in data security and risk management by payment companies have reduced fraud rates by more than 50% in the last 10 years.6
5. What would be the main pieces of advice your company would offer to Canadian retailers trying to succeed at eCommerce?
When it comes to payments, businesses just getting started should familiarize themselves with the payments landscape and common best practices for accepting and managing payments online. Businesses should also work with their Acquirer and other third parties to find the options that best meet their needs. For example, some retailers may want to consider outsourcing and using a fully managed hosted platform so that they do not have to worry about storing card data, which reduces their PCI compliance requirements. Another option for retailers may be to implement a tokenized solution which also mitigates the risk of storing card data.
Businesses already online should look at their website from a consumer perspective to ensure that it is easy to navigate, provides for a good user experience and has a streamlined checkout to optimize conversion. To maintain consumer trust and provide for secure transactions ongoing, a multi-layer approach to payment fraud management is a must. With the growth of smart phones and tablets, many consumers are now accessing websites and making online purchases through their mobile devices. Global mobile payments are predicted to reach an estimated $670 billion in 2015.7 In Canada, of those using smartphones, 16% currently use a mobile wallet with another 32% expressing interest in using one.8Enabling purchases from these mobile devices is important to keep up with the rapidly evolving consumer buying behaviours. Integration between the difference channels and payment environments that consumers use will enable merchants to make the most of their interactions with consumers.
Whether a retailer is just starting out or has been in eCommerce for several years, there are three key components to achieving success in the online channel. These include offering consumers card payment choice such as the different products Visa provides from credit to debit to prepaid or its new digital wallet service V.me, where consumers can store all their Visa cards as well as eligible non Visa cards. Retailers should also adopt best practices when accepting these payments online (available on Visa.ca or from the retailer?s acquirer) coupled with a layered approach to security mentioned above. And finally, retailers should know their costs for payment acceptance online ? and for each channel they sell in ? to maximize their bottom line.
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6. Why is innovation so critical for Canadian businesses in the eCommerce space?
Innovation in payments whether it?s digital wallets, loyalty programs or mobile payments is occurring at a pace like never seen before. The payments landscape is rapidly evolving with the convergence of the online, mobile, local and social channels to the changing consumer behaviours to the new digital commerce solutions being offered from new players and current payment incumbents alike. It can be overwhelming for merchants to keep up with the continuous stream of developments. Consumers are more in control now and move between devices and environments so they need their payments to move seamlessly with them and work reliably from any device. Similarly, merchants look to the payments companies to provide the innovation and leadership needed to keep pace with these rapid developments. Merchants should choose the solutions that will deliver the value, reliability, convenience and security over the long term. For those merchants considering a digital wallet, V.me does just that, delivering the security, simplicity and personalization consumers, merchants and financial institutions demand as payment technology continues to evolve.
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For more eCommerce wisdom, check out the rest of the?Dx3 Digest Guide to eCommerce in Canada.
Sources:
? IHS and Visa Canada, ?The Benefits of Electronic Payments in the Canadian Economy?, a White Paper Prepared by IHS Global Insight and Visa Canada, third edition, 2012
? Canadian Bankers Association and IHS Global Insight 1986-2010 cited in ?The Benefits of Electronic Payments in the Canadian Economy?, a White Paper Prepared by IHS Global Insight and Visa Canada, third edition, 2012
? eMarketer, ?Canada eCommerce: Vendors Compete and Innovate to Deliver a Better eCommerce Experiences?, October 2012
4 Alexa, Top Sites in Canada, August-October 2012.
5 Statistics Canada, ?2010 Canadian Internet Use Survey,? The Daily, October, 2011
6 IHS and Visa Canada, ?The Benefits of Electronic Payments in the Canadian Economy?, a White Paper Prepared by IHS Global Insight and Visa Canada, third edition, 2012
7Jupiter Research, ?Mobile Payment Strategies: Opportunities & Markets 2011 ? 2015?, 2012
8 TNS, Mobile Life Study, 2012
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Web sites:
www.visa.ca
www.v.me
www.cybersource.com
www.authorize.net
www.playspan.com
www.visasecuritysense.com
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Source: http://digest.dx3canada.com/2013/01/18/guide-to-ecommerce-in-canada-visa-canada/
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