Black Friday is no longer a panicked in-store dash over a single day for sales but an extensive retail extravaganza and a prime opportunity for consumers to snag a bargain in the run-up to the holiday season. Due to the year-on-year hype and increase in spending trend, retailers are increasingly becoming more appealing targets to hackers, who will hope to take advantage of customers ready to make a quick purchase for a steal of a deal, when in actual fact, it’s the scammers who will be stealing their money or data.
It's the retailer’s responsibility to ensure their customers’ data is protected and they can incur large fines of up to 4% of their annual turnover should they fall victim to a breach that compromises this data. Where retailers are already some of the most vulnerable targets for fraud, suffering the highest number of data breaches out of all sectors of the economy (17%), it's important for them to deploy safety measures for the busiest shopping period of the year.
Plan to be protected
The increase in consumers Black Friday will bring online should encourage retailers to take a look at what methods of protection they have in place. If you're a retailer and you don’t already have an organization-wide security plan, now is the time to be drawing one up. Knowing where data is stored, how it's protected, and the way your company operates online. This means if an inconsistency does occur it can be spotted immediately.
Deliver more marketing campaigns
At a time of year when more consumers than ever flock online to find a bargain, it's essential that retailers are prepared and able to make the most of those who are looking to spend. One way to do this is by ensuring that marketing emails sent to consumers with news of discounts and offers are safely delivered to the customer’s inbox. While the junk folder was designed to catch phishing emails and spam, if your organization doesn't use email verification protocols, you too could find yourself landing in the trash.
Email verification boosts reputation
Retailers can improve their sender reputation and ensure deliverability by implementing globally-recognized authentication protocols such as DMARC. Verification methods work alongside tools implemented by consumers’ email providers to ensure messages land safely within the inbox and are shown to the receiver to be from a legitimate sender. By using DMARC, you can rest assured that your domain names are protected and any hacker impersonating the brand will be blocked. This protects your brand reputation and also contributes to maintaining a good online dialogue with customers.
Make the step to safer email today
Black Friday is a prime opportunity for retailers, and with the proper email security measures in place, the festive period should be a prosperous one. Protecting your domain, your consumers’ inboxes, and ensuring 100% deliverability means that Black Friday can be successful both for your bottom line and your consumers’ bank balances.
Why not take the first step towards safer email today, with a free and quick health check of your current email security setup? Use our free investigate tool below!
