Business Resolutions You Should Keep This Year

The clock has been reset and many of us have begun to set new goals to reach for in 2017. While there may be a plethora of things we’re hoping to accomplish for the New Year, it’s best to focus on a select few of goals and amplify your efforts in those areas. Here are some common areas where we see business owners struggle to optimize. Learn how to go about achieving them.

Even when you have a well-laid website you could still end up with abandoned purchases at the shopping cart. The first thing consumers dislike from the start is having to sign up or sign in for purchases. While this may seem like a great way to collect emails and data for additional marketing and sales strategies, this often backfires on most businesses. Be sure it’s not required for your customers to sign in while they make a purchase. Shopping carts are also dependent on tight integration with the payment gateway. Ensuring these factors are functioning properly can make a world of difference in site traffic and revenue.

Security Isn’t an IT Problem

Most small business owners don’t often realize their risk for online fraud. A study done by the ACFE shows that median financial loss for a small business owner was around $145,000. In addition, 22 percent of these cases end up losing over 1 million dollars once the fraud has been settled. This means that business owners should make it a priority to have effective fraud prevention methods. Processes like tokenization and encryption provide added defense against online fraud. Becoming PCI compliant also demonstrates you are meeting payment security standards and are ensuring your transactions are safe.

EMV Adaptation

EMV has been a roadblock for many business owners. However having chip card readers comes with a plethora of benefits. EMV terminals have reduced counterfeit fraud by 47 percent and reduced fraud costs by 54 percent for merchants. When it comes to the time of transactions, chip cards require an additional 7 seconds to process. Ensure your customers that chip cards are for the protection of their assets. This also safeguards you as the business owner from chargebacks.