Online commerce is having a greater impact on our lives as more and more businesses take advantage of these new sales channels, from e-tail to mobile commerce, to creating stand-alone mobile apps. With this in mind, we pinpointed four key topics impacting the eCommerce industry today, and created word clouds based on the data from social media monitoring tool Sysomos. For each term, we visualized the data to emphasize which terms were most frequently mentioned, indicating which areas people are most concerned with.
Below, we discuss the results of each and what it means about the state of online commerce.
Trustmarks
With the number of identity thefts on the rise, consumers are still concerned about shopping online. Trustmarks are an integral part of helping improve security and confidence. Generally taking the form of a living icon or logo on your website, a trustmark or security seal proves that you are a legitimate organization, who abides by certain security or privacy regulations.
Our Trustmark word cloud showed that top priorities center on sales, building trust, helping customers, and increasing confidence among online shoppers.
As an online merchant, earning your customers’ trust is an integral part of success and using a security seal is a great way to start.
Security
Along with the number of eCommerce related incidents, the numbers of security breaches in general have also continued to rise. The frequency of words like “breach”, “advice”, “software” and “virus” indicate that the sentiment around online security today is still concerned. From this word cloud, it’s clear that consumers are not the only ones who are unsure about keeping personal information safe; businesses are also searching for help against hackers. Website vulnerability scanning is essential, but it’s also important to remember basic security protocols like firewalls and web application protection.
PCI Compliance
With online security a key concern, and important part of keeping your online business safe is following the PCI compliance regulations for accepting credit card payments. Our word cloud on the same topic indicated that while there is a connection between security and compliance, there is still a need for more guidance. “Help”, “SMB” and “consequences” were key terms associated with PCI and tie in directly to the reality that many merchants are struggle with these regulations and oftentimes lack proper education around it.
Mobile Commerce
While more and more consumers are shopping online, they are also embracing mobile commerce. Whether it’s purchasing goods via a mobile website or using a native app, the pervasiveness of smartphones has had an impact on how we shop. The most popular terms associated with mobile commerce support this notion as well as indicate continued security worries exist. Like your eCommerce site, protecting any mobile offerings in the same way is important, especially as this platform continues to expand.
Understanding some of the most pervasive terms in the industry is a great way to see where we are headed. In order to keep eCommerce moving forward, merchants must focus on security first and foremost, keeping in mind how trends like mobile commerce will impact consumer safety.
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