Business
Embracing eCommerce: what retailers will face in 2023
Published
5 months agoon
By
admin
by T.R Newcomb, VP, Strategy and Corporate Development, Riskified
2022 has been a tumultuous year, with rising interest rates, inflation running at its highest level in decades, and the lingering effects of the pandemic all combining to produce economic uncertainty and a cost-of-living crisis in the UK.
Many consumers fear that a recession is looming, and consequently have cut back their spending. A report by VoucherCodes indicated that most regions in the UK saw a decline in spending in the run-up to Christmas – traditionally a vitally important shopping period for retailers – with spending down 1.3% compared to the year before.
In this context of higher costs and lower consumer demand, 2023 could prove to be a make-or-break moment for retailers operating on slim margins. Many will rely on eCommerce to produce a growing proportion of their revenues. Given this increasing importance of eCommerce channels, what behaviours and changes should online retailers anticipate in the coming months? Here are three trends that we at Riskified predict will impact the industry:
Policy abuse set to skyrocket
Policy abuse, which happens when a consumer exploits (intentionally or otherwise) a retailer’s terms and conditions, has gained significant traction over the past few years. Not only is it getting more common, but it’s also costing online retailers millions of pounds, and will continue to be a top priority for them to address in 2023.

T.R Newcomb
Policy abuse takes many forms. For example, it occurs when customers misuse promotion codes, falsely report a mis-delivered item, or return used or worn items. These behaviours impact all areas of a retailer’s business – from legal to customer service to shipping and logistics.
As we enter 2023, the ongoing economic downturn is forcing consumers to think critically about every pound they spend and every pound they save. We can anticipate, therefore, that consumers are likely to continue finding and abusing loopholes in retailers’ policies to try and save money.
Fighting policy abuse is extremely complex without the right tools in place, and online retailers must balance the customer experience with managing financial losses. If a customer makes dozens of purchases but is suspected of committing policy abuse on only one item, some retailers may choose to overlook the instance rather than risk losing a loyal customer. Sophisticated fraud prevention solutions can analyse data from various customer interaction channels to uncover patterns of behaviour and help retailers identify when policies are being abused and which customers are abusing them.
If retailers don’t pay attention to these consumers’ behaviours and adapt accordingly to manage and prevent policy abuse, bottom lines can be severely impacted throughout 2023.
Brands must double down on personalising the customer experience
In a competitive eCommerce environment, you’ll be hard pressed to find a retailer that isn’t currently hard at work looking for ways to increase and maintain customer loyalty. Securing ongoing loyalty will be of paramount importance in 2023, especially as economic uncertainty continues to sap consumer demand. Consumers who receive an excellent shopping experience are far more likely to keep returning – which is where personalisation comes in.
Much is already written about the value of personalising the early stages of the customer experience – from retargeting adverts to providing customised content and more relevant product recommendations. But there are other areas of the eCommerce shopping experience, like checkout and post-purchase, that also afford compelling opportunities to retailers willing to explore this space.
Personalisation allows retailers to customise every touchpoint throughout the shopping experience, maximising loyalty and retention. This holistic, end-to-end approach must also encompass the customer experience post-purchase, including ongoing customer support and a seamless process for requesting returns and refunds. Retailers can take this a step further and tailor their return policy decisions to block abusers while providing greater leniency to loyal customers as a reward.
The key to winning in 2023 will be embracing creativity and moving away from a one-size-fits all approach at every stage of the purchase experience.
Retailers must navigate PSD2 issues
While the EU’s second Payment Services Directive (otherwise known as PSD2) was launched in late 2015, the deadline for full compliance only finally came into effect in March 2022 in the UK, following several delays. The regulation has meant that much has changed in the online payment space, especially around the strong authentication requirements of transactions.
Over the last year, card issuers have introduced the new 3D Secure (3DS) 2 protocol which aims to manage both risk and the customer experience during a PSD2-compliant authentication process, with the ultimate goal of improving successful approval rates.
One major change to expect in 2023 will be the advent of new authentication technologies, including delegated authentication for merchants. Retailers who qualify will be able to perform authentication through their own platforms, which has the potential to boost revenues through improved customer experience, a lower rate of cart abandonment, and an increase in transaction approval rates.
Unfortunately, it is likely that only enterprises or larger retailers will have the capacity to offer delegated authentication. Smaller and mid-sized merchants will continue to struggle with regular solutions; for them, leveraging exemptions through the usage of Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA) will still be the most effective solution. However, retailers relying on TRA will be hampered by the fact that there remains large unevenness across the EU market regarding the usage and acceptance of exemptions. Issuers in the UK are leading the way here, but issuers in southern Europe are much less aligned in accepting exemptions.
Retailers in 2023 may still be busy adapting to the rules of PSD2, resolving any 3DS-related technical issues and looking for the best ways to leverage exemptions, but they must also pay attention to the conversation around the next evolution of these regulations: PSD3.
In May 2022, the EU Commission opened consultations into revisions for PSD2, and there is a big opportunity for industry representatives to shape this debate. There is a possibility for the whole scope of the regulation to be widened to include emerging trends and new payment methods, such as embedded finance and cryptocurrencies, as well as protect against new types of fraud.
While PSD3 is likely to be years away, it is a reminder that retailers need to look through short-term economic uncertainty and focus on their long-term growth and survival. Adapting to the changing landscape is a never-ending process and is key for retailers to be agile and maintain growth.
Business
Unlocking the Power of Data: Revolutionising Business Success in the Financial Services Sector
Published
18 hours agoon
June 8, 2023By
admin
Suki Dhuphar, Head of EMEA, Tamr
The financial services (FS) sector operates within an immensely data-abundant landscape. But it’s well-known that many organisations in the sector struggle to make data-driven decisions because they lack access to the right data to make decisions at the right time.
As the sector strives for a data-driven approach, companies focus on democratising data, granting non-technical users the ability to work with and leverage data for informed decision-making. However, dirty data, riddled with errors and inconsistencies, can lead to flawed analytics and decision-making. Siloed data across departments like Marketing, Sales, Operations, or R&D exacerbates this issue. Breaking down these barriers is essential for effective data democratisation and achieving accurate insights for decision-making.
An antidote to dirty, disconnected data
Overcoming the challenges presented by dirty, disconnected data is not a new problem. But, there are new solutions – such as shifting strategies to focus on data products – which are proven to deliver great results. But, what is a data product?
Data products are high-quality, accessible datasets that organisations use to solve business challenges. Data products are comprehensive, clean, and continuously updated. They make data tangible to serve specific purposes defined by consumers and provide value because they are easy to find and use. For example, an investment firm can benefit from data products to gain insights into market trends and attract more capital. These offer a scalable solution for connecting alternative data sources, providing accurate and continuously updated views of portfolio companies. Using machine learning (ML) based technology enables the data product to adapt to new data sources, giving a firm’s partners confidence in their investment decisions.

Suki Dhuphar
But, before companies can reap the benefits of data products, the development of a robust data product strategy is a must.
Where to begin?
Prior to embarking on a data product strategy, it is imperative to establish clear-cut objectives that align with your organisation’s overarching business goals. Taking an incremental approach enables you to make a real impact against a specific objective – such as streamlining operations to enhance cost efficiency or reshaping business portfolios to drive growth – by starting with a more manageable goal and then building upon it as the use case is proved. For companies that find themselves uncertain about where to begin their move to data products, tackling your customer data is a good place to start for some quick wins to increase the success of the customer experience programmes.
Getting a good grasp on data
Once an objective is in place, it’s time for an organisation to assess its capabilities for executing the data product strategy. To do this, you need to dig into the nitty-gritty details like where the data is, how accurate and complete it is, how often it gets updated, and how well it’s integrated across different departments. This will give a solid grasp of the actual quality of the data and help allocate resources more efficiently. At this stage, you should also think about which stakeholders from across the business from leadership to IT will need to be involved in the process and how.
Once that’s covered, you can start putting together a skilled team and assigning responsibilities to kick-off the creation and management of a comprehensive data platform that spans all relevant departments. This process also helps spot any gaps early on, so you can focus on targeted initiatives.
Identifying the problem you will solve
Now let’s move on to the next step in our data product strategy. Here we need to identify a specific problem or challenge that is commonly faced in your organisation. It’s likely that leaders in different departments, like R&D or procurement, encounter obstacles that hinder their objectives that could be overcome with better insight and information. By defining a clear use case, you will build a real solution to a challenge they are facing rather than a data product for the sake of having data. This will be an impactful case study for your entire organisation to understand the potential benefits of data products and increase appetite for future projects.
Getting buy-in from the business
Once you have identified the problem you want to solve, you need to secure the funding, support, and resources to move the project ahead. To do that, you must present a practical roadmap that shows how you will quickly deliver value. You should also showcase how to improve it over time once the initial use case is proven.
The plan should map how you will measure success effectively with specific indicators (such as KPIs) that are closely tied to business goals. These indicators will give you a benchmark of what success looks like so you can clearly show when you’ve delivered it.
Getting the most out of your data product
Once you’ve got the green light – and the funds – it’s time to put your plan into action by creating a basic version of your data product, also known as a minimum viable data product (MVDP). By starting small and gradually enhancing with each new release you are putting yourself in the best stead to encourage adoption and also (coming back to our iterative approach) help you secure more resources and funding down the line.
To make the most of your data product, it’s essential to tap into the knowledge and experience of business partners as they know how to make the most of the data product and integrate it into existing workflows. Additionally, collecting feedback and using it to improve future releases will bring even more value to end users in the business and, in turn, your customers.
Unlocking the power of data (products)
It’s crucial for companies in FS to make the most of the huge amount of data they have at their disposal. It simply doesn’t make sense to leave this data tapped and not use it to solve real challenges for end users in the business and, in turn, improve the customer experience! By adopting effective strategies for data products, FS organisations can start to maximise the incredible value of their data.
Business
Making the Maths Work: Addressing Inflation Challenges through Measuring and Managing Risk
Published
1 day agoon
June 8, 2023By
admin
Matt Clementson, Head of Enterprise UK&I
Persistent inflation is highly troublesome for every business – with or without a recession. In addition to causing unexpected expenses, it complicates decision-making around stabilising wages, setting product prices, and investing in new areas for growth. Meanwhile, stock and bond prices plummet when alarming inflation data arrives and interest rates increase. It’s time to run leaner, making the reassessment of the strategic objectives highly urgent.
With a seat in the boardroom, CFOs can guide thoughtful discussions covering everything from procurement, resource allocation, and manufacturing to the alignment of business purpose with operational tactics and goals. CFOs must also rethink how their business measure and mitigate risk. Understanding the business’ vulnerability, they can add considerable value to their business by identifying risks early and making organisations accountable for mitigating them.
When the economy becomes uncomfortable, the mathematics behind business operations no longer work seamlessly. During more comfortable times businesses have the luxury to accept some degree of inefficiency and low productivity – but in times like these that’s no longer the case.
So now it’s more important that ever for CFOs to use the right tools and technology to manage and mitigate risk and build business resilience.
Enhancing visibility to measure and manage risk:
To navigate through periods of high inflation, CFOs need technologies that provide comprehensive visibility, and enable informed decision-making, in order to optimising cash flow, minimise costs and manage risk in a transparent and efficient way.
1. Simplify confusing processes to gain moments of clarity
Effective risk management starts with integrating data from various sources within the organisation. By consolidating data from finance, operations, procurement, and sales, CFOs can gain a holistic view of the business landscape. This integration enables them to identify potential risks associated with inflation, such as rising costs, supply chain disruptions, or changes in customer demand patterns. With access to comprehensive and real-time data, CFOs can make informed decisions that mitigate the impact of inflation on the organisation.
A good first step is to unify travel, expense, and invoice solutions, so that finance teams can integrate and streamline operations and scale spend processes without adding additional resources.
2. Make spending decisions with data-driven accuracy
Once data is integrated, CFOs can leverage advanced analytics techniques to identify patterns, trends, and potential risks. Predictive analytics can help identify inflationary pressures, allowing businesses to proactively adjust pricing strategies or negotiate favourable terms with suppliers. Additionally, scenario modelling can simulate the impact of different inflation rates on the organisation’s financials, enabling CFOs to devise appropriate strategies for managing risk. By harnessing the power of analytics, CFOs can navigate inflation challenges with greater confidence and precision.
3.Driving business agility through automation
Facing a myriad of disruptors, companies in every industry are making strategic decisions aimed at remaining competitive in the market and with their people. Digitisation, standardisation, and automation will be critical as businesses focus on solving problems for their customers in innovative, lasting ways
AI technologies, such as machine learning algorithms, can analyse vast amounts of data to uncover hidden insights and patterns. And with automated, customisable controls, CFOs can keep their firm agile – re-adjusting spend controls to match the corporate travel and expense (T&E) policy whenever their business needs to adapt or pivot. Only then will spending insights allow them to review how policies impact business performance and continue to optimise cash management.
Making the maths work
In a business environment plagued by persistent inflation, CFOs play a crucial role in addressing the associated challenges. By rethinking how their organisations measure and manage risk, CFOs can enhance their decision-making capabilities and add significant value. The integration of data, advanced analytics, and AI technologies enables CFOs to build resilience, standardise processes, ensure compliance, and deliver insights to the entire enterprise. By making the maths work in the face of inflation, businesses can navigate uncertain economic times with confidence and stay on the path of sustainable growth.
Magazine
Trending


Taxing times for online marketplaces? Operators must act now to avoid losing sellers
By Niall Kiernan, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Vertex In today’s digital landscape, online marketplaces are an enabler for...


Five Ways to Save Money in Your 20s
Depending on your background, entering your 20s can be a bit of a precarious time. Among the things you’ll need...


Unlocking the Power of Data: Revolutionising Business Success in the Financial Services Sector
Suki Dhuphar, Head of EMEA, Tamr The financial services (FS) sector operates within an immensely data-abundant landscape. But it’s...


Hidden sources of FX risk: could your business be exposed?
Running a business can come with great rewards, but it’s not without risk – something businesses in the UK have...


Preventing fraud and detecting money laundering in real-time
Mathew Hobbis – Chief Architect FSI, Solace The number of payment channels has grown exponentially. The time it takes...


Money where your mouth is: on the need to modernize insurance tech stacks
Tim Hood, VP, EMEA and APAC, Hyland Once upon a time, starting an insurance company was a predominantly physical...


Making the Maths Work: Addressing Inflation Challenges through Measuring and Managing Risk
Matt Clementson, Head of Enterprise UK&I Persistent inflation is highly troublesome for every business – with or without a recession....


BioCatch Strengthens Collaboration with Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services
Collaboration Delivers End-to-End Intelligent Banking Cloud Platform with Online Fraud Detection Powered by Next-Generation Behavioural Biometrics BioCatch, a global leader...


HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN FIGHT BACK AGAINST POOR PAYMENT PRACTICES
SMEs across the UK are facing a challenging economic environment and late payments pose a severe challenge to maintaining cash...


Less than a year until EMIR Refit: how can firms prepare?
Leo Labeis, CEO at REGnosys, discusses everything that financial institutions need to know about EMIR Refit and how they can...


Enhancing cybersecurity in investment firms as new regulations come into force
Christian Scott, COO/CISO at Gotham Security, an Abacus Group Company The alternative investment industry is a prime target for...


How to think like an attacker & why it might be critical to your security strategy
Kam Karaji, Global Head of Information Security for Bibby Financial Services, argues at DTX Manchester that the most successful way...


Building a sustainable future – what’s on your agenda for 2023?
The most successful and progressive leaders are embracing ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance principles throughout their businesses, but how...


Digital Acceleration – the next buzzword in banking tech? Or a new era for the industry?
Ove Kreison, CTO at Tuum McKinsey’s latest report on banking found that traditional banks are spending a whopping 85% of their...


One year until EMIR Refit: how can firms prepare?
Leo Labeis, CEO at REGnosys, discusses everything that financial institutions need to know about EMIR Refit and how they can...


In the Name of the Family! Firms with CEOs under clan culture influence are much more likely to be internationally focused
In an increasingly globalised world, it is incredibly rare that a firm can expect to grow in the long-term unless...


Regulations, RegTech and CBDCs – Fintech’s Next Chapter
Teresa Cameron, Finance Director at Clear Junction Over the last decade, the UK has embraced the fintech revolution with...


Gearing up for growth amid economic pressure: 10 top tips for maintaining control of IT costs
By Dirk Martin, CEO and Founder of Serviceware Three years on from the pandemic and economic pressure is...


Find Your Tribe With Content Marketing
Ian is the CMO at Spotler Group Seth Godin, a writer, speaker, marketing expert, and influencer, describes audiences as tribes,...


The formula for success: delivering total experience in financial services
Monica Hovsepian, Global Industry Strategist, OpenText The tumult of the last few years has thrown many challenges at...

Taxing times for online marketplaces? Operators must act now to avoid losing sellers

Five Ways to Save Money in Your 20s

Unlocking the Power of Data: Revolutionising Business Success in the Financial Services Sector

Hidden sources of FX risk: could your business be exposed?

Preventing fraud and detecting money laundering in real-time

Money where your mouth is: on the need to modernize insurance tech stacks

PCI DSS v.4.0 Latest Updates That You Need to Know

RBI’s MASTER DIRECTION ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS SECURITY CONTROLS

EMV® 3-D SECURE: ENABLING STRONG CUSTOMER AUTHENTICATION

HOW TO SIMPLIFY IDENTIFICATION IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECONOMY WITH THE LEI

EXEGER – CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF POWER

FUTURE FX PROMO
Trending
-
News1 day ago
BioCatch Strengthens Collaboration with Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services
-
Business3 days ago
HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN FIGHT BACK AGAINST POOR PAYMENT PRACTICES
-
Finance1 day ago
Preventing fraud and detecting money laundering in real-time
-
Business3 days ago
Less than a year until EMIR Refit: how can firms prepare?