Retailers Could Soon Be Liable For Damages Their Customers Incur From Data Breaches
Apr 7, 2014, 18:19 IST
Welcome to our new E-Commerce Insider newsletter, a morning email with the top news and analysis on the e-commerce industry, produced by BI Intelligence. Click here to sign up for E-Commerce Insider today, and receive it every morning in your inbox. RETAILERS COULD BE LIABLE FOR DATA BREACHES: California legislature is voting on a new law that would make retailers liable for damages that customers incur as a result of data breaches, such as the one Target suffered recently. The new law would shift the liability from banks and credit card companies to retailers. Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Association (CRA) says the bill will be one of the year's biggest disputes over business-related legislation. The CRA includes nearly every national retail chain, which collectively employ 2.8 million workers in California. If the bill is passed, it could set a new standard for how retailers deal with security breaches in other states as well. (Los Angeles Times, PYMNTS) PAYMENT SECURITY RISES IN IMPORTANCE: In light of the new bill, it's more important than ever before for retailers to invest in securing their customers' credit card information, much of which is now stored online. Many businesses remain naive about the hacker threat. Only 28% of merchants said mobile security was the top obstacle they faced in 2013. If the California law is passed, retailers will not only have to deal with the repercussions of losing customer loyalty after a breach, but they will also be on the line for covering the financial losses incurred. DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB OPTIMIZES FOR MOBILE: Dollar Shave Club, a subscription service for men's grooming products, saw mobile conversions increase by 126% after optimizing its website for mobile users. "If you run offline ad campaigns (TV and radio) like we do, 45% of your traffic from the campaign will be mobile. If your site is not optimized for mobile, you're flushing money down the drain," said Tom Lehr, vice president of engineering for Dollar Shave Club. Although mobile is becoming increasingly important to retailers for reaching their customers, many are still using desktop sites as a one-size-fits-all Web strategy. Recent analysis by marketing firm The Search Agency found that roughly one in three online retailers still lack a mobile-optimized website. (Multichannel Merchant) WELCOME, E-COMMERCE INSIDERS: This is our new newsletter covering all things e-commerce. Please email csmith@businessinsider.com with news and tips. Click here to sign up for E-Commerce Insider today, and receive it every morning in your inbox. SUBWAY TESTING ORDER-AHEAD APP: Sandwich chain Subway is testing a new mobile app that will allow customers to place their food order ahead of time. Subway executives said the app will be particularly useful for large families that want to place multiple orders. And, because Subway's sandwiches are made to order, the new app should reduce lines and waiting time. Subway was an early adopter of mobile technology, launching its first mobile app in 2012. Executives say the mobile strategy has paid off and they will continue investing in apps. (Mobile Commerce Daily) WAL-MART DUMPS DISCOVER FOR MASTERCARD: Ending a nine-year partnership with Discover Financial Services, Wal-Mart will now be offering co-branded store cards with MasterCard instead. The deal extends to store cards from Wal-Mart owned Sam's Club as well. Wal-Mart also announced that GE's retail finance unit will continue to issue store cards for Sam's Club. (Bloomberg & Sam's Club) INSIDE PAYPAL'S NEW PLAY FOR OFFLINE COMMERCE: eBay-owned PayPal is putting together an ambitious plan to become a dominant force in offline payments. BI Intelligence visited the company's Manhattan offices last week and caught a glimpse of what PayPal-powered bricks-and-mortar commerce would look like: an integrated ecosystem of consumer apps, point-of-sale hardware and software, and beacons. PayPal employees demonstrated how the new devices and apps would work in three different simulated retail environments: a pop-up store, a food truck, and a toy store. It's all part of what PayPal President David Marcus has called "Money 3.0," moving commerce beyond cash and credit cards. PayPal and eBay are competing with Silicon Valley-based companies and legacy players to power the $10 trillion market in global commerce, much of which is still offline. BI Intelligence subscribers can read the rest of this article on the BI Intelligence website. (Tech Reporter Keith Griffith For BI Intelligence) Here's what else BI Intelligence subscribers are reading... What The GrubHub IPO Means For The Payments And Mobile Industries A Quick Look At Snapchat's Demographics - Its Users Are Mostly Young Women And Teen Girls