Global Risk Technologies™’ latest whitepaper takes an in-depth look into the growing retail phenomenon hitting the UK this holiday season: Black Friday. Hailed as the unofficial countdown to Christmas, many merchants are expected to reap the rewards from a surge in online traffic and transactions, with experts predicting the first ever £1 billion spend in UK online shopping history.
Black Friday’s contribution to a huge seasonal peak will no doubt put a smile on the face of many merchants, but unfortunately it’s not all good news. Our new expert whitepaper examines how Black Friday has changed the buying habits of UK consumers; what effect this has had on sales and fraud rates; the issues faced by merchants since the emergence of this phenomenon; and how these issues can be tackled to enjoy a safe and profitable Black Friday in 2015 and beyond.
Cyber Monday and Black Friday should raise concerns of fraud and chargebacks if merchants are not prepared. It is essential that the correct practices are in place to minimise the risks Black Friday and Cyber Monday could potentially bring with it. Our Co-Founder and CIO, Monica Eaton-Cardone, who produced the white paper, is urging merchants to review their fraud prevention systems in the wake of Black Friday and ask themselves following questions:
Internet bandwidth
Can your website survive surges in concentrated traffic at one time or will the number of visitors cause the website to crash and drive customers to competitors?
Chargeback management
Long after the dust has settled on Black Friday (typically 60-90 days afterwards), merchants get hit by expensive chargebacks, which can threaten to decimate seasonal profits. This happens when the customer goes direct to their bank to reclaim money on an unauthorised transaction. Do you know the source of your chargebacks? Do you know genuine claims from fraudulent ones? How can you dispute these successfully?
Logistics
Can your delivery network cope with the number of deliveries that will need to be made in the short timeframe? Do you obtain signed delivery receipts from customers? If not, they could be costing you hundreds and thousands in friendly fraud.
Fraud prevention
Can your systems intelligently detect suspicious devices, locations, orders and transactions? Customers’ traditional buying patterns become obliterated by Black Friday and Cyber Monday – the value, addresses and volume of orders is hugely abnormal – can you spot the genuine orders from the fraudulent ones?
