Survey Shows More Retailers Will Support Payment Security In 2015

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Retail management consulting firm Boston Retail Partners' (BRP) survey reveals the top IT priority for retailers in 2015 is improving payment security and protecting the confidentiality of sensitive information. The BRP 2015 POS/Customer Engagement Benchmarking Survey has shown, for the first time in 16 years, more than 63 percent of the retail respondents said payment security is among their top three priorities for 2015.

The survey found EMV adoption will increase by 650 percent by October 2015, in the wake of a number of high-profile and costly hacking attacks and in anticipation of the looming deadline that places credit card liability on the shoulders of the retailers for those who are not EMV-compliant.

“EMV is getting lots of attention, but it’s not the Holy Grail in the defense against credit card hackers,” said Perry Kramer, vice president, Boston Retail Partners. “According to our survey, retailers understand a multi-tiered approach, with a combination of EMV, encryption, and tokenization are key components of a payment security platform.”

Unified commerce is also driving the initiative for 2015. “Today’s connected/online customers expect the same interactive experience regardless of where they shop. Retailers must deliver a holistic customer experience that transcends channels,” said Brian Brunk, principal, Boston Retail Partners. “Under the unified commerce approach, retailers are transforming their organization, business processes and technology to better align with their customers.”

Ken Morris, principal, Boston Retail Partners added, “While only 8 percent of retailers have implemented a single commerce platform, more than half of the retailers indicated they will have a single commerce platform implemented within the next 4 years — that’s a 663 percent increase! It is encouraging to see the commitment from retailers to provide the seamless shopping experience consumers want.”