Retail IT News For VARs — May 23, 2014
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In the news, experts weigh in on mobile as a driver for payments technology and on the impact recent credit data breaches have had to drive EMV adoption. Also, Twitter’s new “mute” feature could diminish visibility of some advertising.
Mobile Is Lead Driver For Changes In Payments Technology
A recent IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Study found that 32 percent of all online sales were made over mobile devices between November 2013 and January 2014, and this figure is only set to grow. Connectivity has changed the way consumers shop and interact with retailers and banks, as with mobile we're now browsing and buying more on the move than ever before. In this article from mobilepaymentstoday.com, Ariel Bardin from Google, Paul Galant from VeriFone, and ETA CEO Jason Oxman explain the further changes they think mobile will bring to the payments and retail industries.
Credit Data Breaches Fueling EMV Fire
This article from mobilepaymentstoday looks at how recent high-profile information breaches have created an accelerating interest in EMV and its potential to reduce fraud, even in the face of massive breaches of transaction data. Although EMV alone could not have prevented these breaches, the nature of transaction information transmitted within the EMV structure renders much of the data that could be intercepted unusable for additional transactions, thus discouraging fraudsters.
Merchants Can Communicate with Customers Using Digital Receipts from Square Feedback
Square has announced the company has introduced a new product that turns digital receipts into a powerful channel between buyers and sellers. Square Feedback prompts customers to send feedback on their experience directly to the business owner through their digital receipt. Sellers can also respond directly to customers, resolve issues one on one, and protect their reputation.
New Mute Feature On Twitter Might Mean Brand Visibility Not So Clear
Twitter announced a new account feature called mute that provides greater control over the content visible on Twitter by enabling the removal of a user’s content from key parts of the Twitter experience. This new feature blurs the visibility of brand advertising, according to Marketingland.com. Now, brands no longer have assurance that their content is being viewed by Twitter followers.
Retail IT Talking Points
In a press release, payment security and compliance solution provider ControlScan announced a partnership with EverCompliant, an Israel-based provider of merchant security risk and compliance management solutions, to offer acquirers leading-edge brand protection monitoring. The new brand protection monitoring solution allows acquirers to continuously monitor merchants' sites to identify illegal activity and inappropriate content, such as high-risk product sales, child pornography and illegal merchant aggregation.
According to Retailingtoday.com, e-commerce saw double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2014. A recent report showed that desktop-based e-commerce spending rose 12 percent year-over-year to $56.1 billion, marking the 18th consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and 14th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Retail IT Tech Center.