We see it every year: hordes of people lining up outside mega retailers in hopes of picking up that new television set or gaming console at rock-bottom prices. The doors open and there’s a mad rush as holiday cheer gives way to the laws of supply and demand. In the past, lack of preparation and inadequate security by retailers have led to disastrous results with people being injured and in some rare instances, even killed. Welcome to Black Friday!
Enter Cyber Monday. While there are no physical stampedes, the virtual onslaught of shoppers can cause problems of its own. Like the retailers above, lack of preparation and inadequate security on websites can have disastrous effects for companies. Every year sites get overloaded and crash, shoppers complain of slow-loading web pages and hackers find their way into sites, putting customer’s personal and financial information at risk.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Indeed.
But let’s not be Grinchy! Just because the threats exist don’t mean they will occur. Webmasters can play the role of Santa’s elves by implementing safeguards to make sure customers have a happy and safe shopping experience. What kind of safeguards? Well, we’ve made a short list (you might want to check it twice!):
1. Security – Customers are looking for a safe, shopping experience. The threat of hackers and malware has the attention of consumers like never before and they will be looking for peace of mind when conducting online transactions. 8 Million web pages were hijacked, just this summer (Armorize research). Companies can ease those fears by ensuring that their websites have the highest grade of security.
2. Speed – According to Forrester Research on Information Week last week, online shoppers expect pages to load in less than two seconds, and 40 percent of shoppers will abandon a site if pages take more than three seconds to load. If you don’t want your shoppers to take their business elsewhere, make sure your website is moving full speed ahead.
3. Capacity – With online sales expected to reach 1.2 billion dollars this Cyber Monday, many websites are expecting a bump in activity. The question is: will websites be able to handle the extra workload? Not enough capacity and too much traffic could lead to a website crashing, resulting in a ‘Bah Humbug’ for customers and companies alike.
Cyber Monday comes but once a year, and webmasters need to be prepared! Incapsula can help with that. The clock is ticking but there’s still time to make sure this Cyber Monday is a prosperous one. The safeguards put in place now will not only keep customers happy, but will allow websites to perform at Cyber Monday levels the whole year round.
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