Is making it easier for consumers to engage with your business digitally an ongoing objective? For many small and medium sized operations, the answer is a resounding yes.
That’s to be expected, given the well documented benefits such a strategy can deliver. Chief among them is satisfying consumers’ expectations. In today’s times, online ordering capability, self-service options and a seamless customer experience have ceased to be ‘nice to haves’. Rather, they’re seen as essential components of every successful enterprise.
Businesses that don’t have them sorted risk being perceived as outmoded, difficult to deal with and even unprofessional – hardly the image any dynamic, future focused organisation is seeking to convey.
Trust down, worry up
But while consumers may be enamoured with the speed and convenience dealing with businesses digitally can provide, they’re no longer feeling as relaxed and comfortable about doing so as once they were.
It’s hardly surprising, given the stream of well resourced, household name organisations that have been prey to hackers and cyber criminals in recent years. Consumers have seen trusted tech and financial institutions experience attacks, resulting in the personal information of millions of customers being stolen and sold on the dark web – and it’s got them worried.
In the wake of these incidents, concerns about identity theft and fraud have become well- nigh universal. Some 87 percent of people now feel highly or somewhat concerned about the prospect of falling victim, according to a recent global consumer survey. That’s an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year’s figures.
The seemingly inexorable rise of AI is doing little to aid those concerns. We’ve all seen, read and heard about deep fake technology and the increasing ingenuity of bad actors bent on deceiving and defrauding. That’s got a whopping 89 percent of us worried about how this game changing technology might impact the security of our personal identities.
In Australia, those concerns are greatest when we’re shopping online and accessing digital banking services.
Upping the protection factor
Against that backdrop, it’s incumbent upon businesses that want consumers to engage with them digitally to ensure security, ease of use and privacy are incorporated into every customer experience they offer.
Introducing greater rigour into the authentication process is an effective way to do so. Whether it comes in the form of multi-factor authentication, biometrics, voice recognition, QR codes, or text and email prompts with one-time log-ins, consumers want the reassurance that only robust verification measures can provide.
Requiring customers to prove their identity before proceeding with a purchase or interaction signals that your business is serious about safeguarding its network and the integrity of their personal data.
So does the adoption of a suite of passive data security measures, such as firewalls, encryption and antivirus programs, all of which can be implemented without adding friction to the customer experience.
It’s good to talk
Smart businesses will put these protective measures in place and ensure they stay abreast of new developments in the rapidly evolving identity management space – think digital wallets and decentralised identity technology that’s enabling governments to roll out mobile and digital driving licences.
Smarter ones will talk about what they’re doing and why. Communicating clearly, in everyday language your customers can understand, is a great way to relieve their fears about identity theft and fraud and provide reassurance that safeguarding their personal information is a priority for your business.
Forging a more secure future
In today’s times, an outstanding digital experience is one that’s swift, seamless – and safe. It’s what Australian consumers expect and demand when they engage with brands and businesses online. Enterprises that fail to provide it may quickly find themselves bypassed, in favour of competitors that are prepared to invest in platforms and programs that deliver robust protection for consumers’ identity data.
If you’re serious about elevating your customers’ digital experience, by helping them feel supported and safe at every stage of the purchasing journey, it’s foundation technology that should sit at the heart of your ICT stack.
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