Digital identity is a vital part of eCommerce, online service adoption, and in the constant battle against fraud and smoothing the path to seamless online retail. But with so many moving parts, retailers and eCommerce need to monitor the changing landscape to keep relations with customers, banks and payment providers strong.
How the new AIs will change eCommerce
In recent articles, we have pointed out the ongoing surge in online sales, across eCommerce, B2B, and other areas, from the digital giants to boutique service providers. It might seem that the big-news impact of ChatGPT and Google’ Bard could shake things up further. That’s as commerce firms look to ERPs and more rounded solutions to make managing their operations easier, but as more complex functions become part of any package.
While AI-powered services dominate the tech news headlines, with a growing impact on retail, from AI-created product imagery to AI-generated content to boost engagement, online retailers can benefit but typically have more pressing issues to deal with. Tracking how AI impacts retail and eCommerce will be useful, but unlikely to be an immediate game-changer.
Of perhaps more value will be the new generation of improved bots for retailers, helping support customer service, dealing with fraud issues, and driving upselling through their AI smarts, moving beyond current levels of recommendation engines.
Identity is all part of the eCommerce package
More pressing issues for eCommerce are the evolution of e-pay solutions, adding further identity checks, with more rounded offerings as part of membership and checkout solutions. Identity firms are also taking a greater role in eCommerce, as noted by the likes of Identiq joining the sponsors’ list of ePay Summit Europe, taking place in London this May.
Ensuring that the identification, authentication, and authorization processes all align in an eCommerce solution, as sales take place within mobile apps, as pop-ups on third-party sites will help improve security and reduce the risk of fraud.
One area where extra layers of extra security are needed is in the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, where support for chargebacks is required. If crypto and NFTs are to become accepted across the wider consumer landscape, then dispute mitigation is required in this volatile landscape. Given crypto’s murky origins, customer identification has been a slow process but more is needed as blockchains and other parts of the crypto landscape mature.
The booming world of Buy Now Pay Later
And payments are changing, with buy-now pay later (BNPL) being added to a wider range of services, like business travel and even tech firm Apple, making it easier to buy the latest gadgets. BNPL accounted for 12% of the £8 billion ($9.6 billion) across UK online retail in January 2023.
All of this creates a greater risk of fraud, both for consumers tempted by “too good to be true” cheap deals for expensive consumer goods on dodgy sites. And retailers who face more complex chargeback scenarios from fraud or careless consumers.
While hardened criminals might take advantage of BNPL as part of their general efforts. A booming generation of more casual fraudsters might make the first payment, get the goods (through stolen cards and mule addresses), and then vanish by the time the next payment comes around.
All of retail is in flux, all the time
Whether it is the seasonal chaos among dating apps during Valentines’ Day, a rush for Spring Break bookings or summer holidays, to the rise in B2B deals and automated retail between digital bots. Every type of business needs to be ready to cope with the changing payments and service landscape.
And now we’re out of January, where eCommerce solution and service vendors like to update their roadmaps, check to see what’s on the horizon from your provider to see how it could impact your operations.
While your company might run an ERP like CloudSuite or a range of tools built-up over time, every organization needs to strengthen its payments back-end. Whether it’s a new identity solution or a BNPL offer, Cartis helps provide the right payment solutions for best-in-class fraud management and chargeback handling. See here for more details.