E-Commerce in 2023: What Businesses Need to Prioritize to Succeed

Over the last decade, the rise of e-commerce has revolutionized mass consumer behaviour and the ideals of capitalism that drive it. As a result, what has been created is a landscape that everyone wants to enter but demands excellence to thrive in. 

Who’s Setting The Standard?

Companies like Amazon, Alibaba, Shein, and Apple have set the standard so high that newcomers must strive to achieve flawless performance in order to succeed long term. As you might’ve guessed, this requires a significant investment in the backend infrastructure of e-commerce platforms to keep up with the demands of the market.

Take a look at Microsoft— they’ve just recently put a few billion dollars into Chat GPT and are expecting to increase that investment threefold in the near future. This is a great example of why the top-performing companies have earned the position they’re in. They see the trends and evaluate how to best make a move to capitalize on them. 

What does it mean for your business? 

Are you looking to tap into the e-commerce sector? Maybe you’ve been in the space for a bit and are looking to ramp up progress. Whatever the case may be, you need to be aware of what’s trending and how to make it fit your business. For example, the mass appeal towards TikTok inspired other platforms to incorporate Reels which bring platforms dramatically more engagement. 

Here are 4 quick e-commerce trends that will heavily contribute to a platform's success in 2023:

• Mobile: Is your app just as easy to shop on and check out as your website? The amount of mobile users is significant in e-commerce, which means the experience needs to be seamless. For this reason, e-commerce companies tend to go with a mobile-first approach when designing their platform. We’ve referred to the mobile experience as a hot button in 2023 which is almost an understatement. It really is an upper hand for those who master it. 

• Post-Purchase Customer Experience: If you want consistent business, this has to be a priority. The sector is competitive and brand loyalty doesn’t exist when it comes to e-commerce. One of Amazon’s greatest strengths is how simple its return policy is, even though customers don’t typically buy with the intent of returning, the fact the solution is there is what sets them apart. 

• Social Commerce: Social media is a goldmine when it comes to marketing, especially for startups. Social commerce generates billions of dollars that are readily available to brands who strategize how to best position themselves. For example, being on multiple social platforms is great but not having sufficient content on those platforms, favouring certain platforms and neglecting others will hurt your brand this year. 

• Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR): An emerging trend that the giants in the sector are using to enhance the shopping experience is VR and AR. For example, IKEA has The Place App which allows customers to see how furniture will look in their home before buying it. L'Oreal allows you to virtually try on makeup, Nike allows you to use VR to see how their products are made, etc. 

The Covid-19 pandemic proved that consumers get accustomed to technology fast and won’t easily compromise with a lesser option. This is why trillions of dollars were invested in IT during the pandemic, and the trend is expected to continue exponentially in the coming years. 

It may sound cliché, but the best way to get started when building an e-commerce platform is by prioritizing the customer experience. If you wouldn't want to shop on your platform, what makes you think anyone else would? An end-user mindset is a website architect's strongest asset and with consistent revision and innovation, the platform's chance at long-term success increases. 

The Takeaway

The “right way” to do something is never obvious nor is it a one-size-fits-all approach. It needs to follow a process of trial and error in the initial stages but once a solid foundation has been built, reward tends to follow.

The typical success rate for e-commerce sites is around 20% and the problem is seldom the product. It’s commonly a result of failing to consider the end user's needs and preferences during UI/UX development as well as when balancing the platform's front and back-end features. 

Don’t let your business become another statistic, consult with professionals who can guide you to long-term success. 

Written By Ben Brown

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ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

A Guide to Security Testing

Security is more important than ever, especially with so many online resources and applications. When developing an application, gathering information on security is a top priority for us at ISU Corp.

Our security audit is an analytical approach to measure the informative security assessment for your application. We will perform vulnerability scans, and carefully examine the system configuration and settings, and analyze the network and communication.

When analyzing your application, we take into account what's already been completed with the IT environment when we do an information security audit.

It’s challenging for businesses to stay ahead of the ever-evolving security threats. As a safeguard, it’s important to be prepared and have a Disaster Recovery Runbook in the event a breach occurs. Security hacks are stressful for everyone involved, but a DR runbook can help any IT team stay calm and organized.

Our goal is to understand your application’s information system deficiencies. To do this we will start off by verifying the security level of your Servers, Operating Systems & Databases, Business Applications, Software, and Network & Communications.

We will track any and all of the deficiencies that are found, and then we will come up with recommendations to improve the deficiencies.

By utilizing our testing services, you have the ability to move forward confidently knowing that your applications:

• Are protected from both known and unknown vulnerabilities

• The data for them is safe and difficult to hack

• Are in compliance with security regulations

Now, here is the security testing process:

At ISU Corp, our professional Web Application Security Testing Service is used to assist you in recognizing the vulnerabilities. The application testing is completed offsite for external faced web applications, but we will apply identical security properties for all applications that we develop.

Our security testing methodologies were discovered by the Open Web Application Security Project and they include the following processes:

• Information retrieval

• Arranged management testing

• Business logic testing

• Authentication and authorization testing

• Session management testing

• Data validation

• Denial of service testing

• Web services testing

• Ajax testing

Regardless of how diligent the testing processes are, new threats and attack vectors will always find a way into your software. Here at ISU Corp, we use our best efforts to put energy and resources into gathering the most recent knowledge for designing effective methods to optimize our security testing services.

We will test for:

• Injection

• Cross-site scripting (XSS)

• Broken authentication and session management

• Insecure direct object references

• Cross-Site request forgery (CSRF)

• Security misconfiguration

• Insecure cryptographic storage

• Failure to Restrict URL Access

• Insufficient transport layer protection

• Unvalidated redirects and forwards

At ISU Corp, we will also provide access to in-depth vulnerability assessments that closely examine every open port, host, and services that have access to the Web. The vulnerability tests will also map the network architecture to check that the network devices are protected from hacker attacks.

Reliant on what’s discovered in the process of the vulnerability test, we will determine and report your network’s security position.

Our diligent research teams at ISU Corp strive to validate the security of your websites prior to potential issues. Our goal is to be your trusted partner for all your web application testing and assessment requirements.

Reach out to one of our experts at ISU Corp to get started, or if you have any additional inquiries about security testing!

Financial Verification Software in 2023

One of the biggest challenges facing the growth of financial technology is a lack of control when verifying user information. This is a serious issue, especially considering the role these services play in our day-to-day lives.

With FinTech having transformed the way people manage their money, the need for data safety cannot be overstated. In this article, we will look at why this issue is so significant for companies of all sizes and what can be done to mitigate the risk. 

The Importance of FinTech Security

Fintech security can be compared to a secure home. Just like you wouldn't leave the windows and doors of your house unlocked, fintech companies cannot put their platforms at risk of being broken into. The security systems FinTechs use in this case becomes the home security system except for a millionfold the number of members.

What The Research is Telling Us

Last year, research found that more than 50% of financial institutions were impacted by cybersecurity breaches, which is a 21% increase from the previous year. Additionally, more than 40% of these attacks were aimed at small to mid-sized businesses of which only 14% have the resources to defend themselves.

And lastly, a survey last year found that over 20% of US companies who did face an attack lost between $100,000 to nearly $500,000, with 4% losing over one million dollars.

Options Moving Forward

As we consider the best options for financial firms to maintain the security of their platforms in 2023, one of the most relevant and pressing topics in the sector is KYC (Know Your Customer) software. Before delving into other facets, let's take a closer look at this aspect of fintech security:

Defining KYC: In simple terms, KYC is the process of confirming the identity of your clients and checking that they aren’t involved in any illegal activities. KYC software is an automation tool that supports financial institutions, which includes fintech businesses, in meeting regulations and mitigating any possibility of misconduct.

The software simplifies the customer onboarding process by collecting and verifying their personal information. It then cross-references the information with various databases. 

The process is mandatory when opening/maintaining bank accounts in the United States and Canada, as well as in several other countries. This is certainly for good reason as taking on new customers poses plenty of risk without proper verification processes.

This is why every startup needs to strategize and prepare for these contingencies. Yep, it starts that early, and as we said earlier, it’s the small to mid-size institutions that are targeted the most and impacted the hardest.

Now, although KYC is important, it is not the only component needed to ensure your platform is secure. Other aspects include:

• Customer Due Diligence (CDD): This is half the process of KYC as this is what collects and cross-references the information financial institutions use to determine the risk customers pose to the institution.

• Anti Money Laundering (AML): AML goes hand in hand with KYC since KYC is merely a component of AML technology. It’s designed to prevent any illicit activity such as money laundering or other offences alike. 

• Fraud Detection Software: This technology analyzes transactions and flags anything that comes across as unusual or suspicious based on pre-determined criteria. This helps to quickly identify potential fraud and minimize the risk of revenue loss.

Again, we’ve emphasized that the financial institutions that prioritize meeting regulatory requirements using these processes will be better equipped to handle cyberattacks and reduce the risk of data breaches, financial losses, and damage to the company’s reputation. 

Investing in the right financial verification software not only meets regulatory requirements but also gives clients peace of mind knowing their information is protected. Aside from the direct risks facing firms in terms of security, it’s said that the vast majority of customers won’t stay with platforms that poorly integrate KYC guidelines.

The Takeaway

Financial firms need to consider how KYC fits into their platform. Is it already a high priority? Do your customers find it annoying? The performance of your platform is meaningless if the experience is not enjoyable for your users. This means that consistently evaluating your platform and getting the necessary help will set up any firm for success in the long run. 

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.