People shop on the internet more than ever. 

But with the increased activity comes a few negative elements you have to consider to keep your online store safe and cyber thieves at bay. 

Although eCommerce has numerous threats, a few stand out as more concerning than others. Keep these things in mind as you secure your site and protect your digital assets. 

6 Most Common eCommerce Threats And Solutions

1. Competition

Statista estimates global eCommerce sales are around $6.3 trillion in 2023, with a projected growth of $8.1 trillion by 2026. As with any growing industry, as soon as someone finds success with a particular product or service, a few competitors spring up, trying to take a piece of the money pie. 

One of the biggest threats to eCommerce store owners is staying in favor of their customers. It’s very easy for people to see a shiny new brand and jump over to their website. 

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to ensure you stay ahead of new startups:

• Know your customers well. When you understand your buyers, you can offer new products they want or improvements to current stock. 
• Study your competitors. What are they doing well? What can you do better?
• Focus on customer experience (CX). The happier your buyers are, the less likely they’ll hop to another store.

2. Security breaches

Recent studies show 68.5% of organizations have been a victim of ransomware, with the highest ransom demand in 2021 being $50 million. Even smaller businesses can be victims of hackers. 

The best way to protect your eCommerce store and customer data is to put the following security measures in place:

• Train employees to avoid common tactics such as phishing.
• Update software and make logins complex.
• Develop policies to protect users’ personal data and follow privacy regulations.

A cyberattack can damage your store and reputation. It’s best to avoid a breach in the first place.

3. Changing consumer priorities

The pandemic forced people to shop online. It also shifted spending priorities. What people spent money on previously may not match their budgets today.

Here’s how you can track actual consumer priorities and needs and define the best-fit offers:

• Survey your current customers to find out what they see as essential related to what you sell.
• Think about supplemental products that might perform better than the original. For example, many distilleries began making hand sanitizer during the pandemic and came up with budget brands after.
• Pay attention to customer complaints. If they’re looking for ways to cut expenses and they’re already aggravated with your methods, they may just leave your company and never return. 

Loss of revenue is one of the most significant threats to eCommerce. Look for ways to reduce the impact. The integration of a revenue intelligence system within the e-commerce sector can significantly reform how businesses understand and maximize their earnings. With the power to distil vast amounts of transactional data into actionable insights, such systems offer a new horizon for e-commerce growth.

4. Technological shifts

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning mean eCommerce is changing just as rapidly. The global AI market is $142.3 billion and growing. 

Some of the things you can do to embrace these new technologies and utilize the tools at hand include:

• Utilize chatbots to talk to your customers and help them with basic answers or customer service issues. You’ll still need live agents to best serve their needs, but bots can help gather information.
• Tap into AI software such as ChatGPT to brainstorm marketing strategies or come up with a list of ideas to write about for a blog.
• Use intelligent software to track customer patterns and analyze what works best for your site. For Amazon sellers, using Amazon PPC software has been critical to analyze customers’ LTV and CPA.

Business owners shouldn’t be scared of the changes happening in the eCommerce industry but learn to embrace the new tools and use them to their best advantage.

5. Blockchain issues

Blockchain issues can impact eCommerce stores and slow down things such as payment processing. Unfortunately, small businesses have little control over how things such as VisaNet handles transactions or how quickly. When a payment gateway goes down, the entire store is impacted. 

Some of the issues you might face:

• Customers growing aggravated over something you don’t directly control.
• People abandoning their carts when payment doesn’t go through. 

Fix these issues by offering more than one way for customers to pay. Offer options through Google Pay, Apple, PayPal, Square, Stripe, and any other method that makes sense for your store. The more options you have, the more of a chance at least one of them will work for your customer. 

6. Laws and regulations

Most people are familiar with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation Act and how it impacts the information they collect from consumers and the ways they secure and store that data. However, many other countries have implemented data privacy laws as well. 

If you do business with anyone in these countries, your store could be subject to fines if you don’t take steps to follow protocol. 

So you must keep the following things in mind to stay safe and sound:

• Stay updated on the laws and rules for the countries you do business with. If a Chinese citizen orders from your store, what must you be aware of to protect yourself and their privacy?
• Brush up on state and local rules. If someone in California places an order, there is a state regulation you should follow.
• Go above and beyond the requirements, and you’ll likely meet all regulatory regulations with little additional effort.

A small online store can’t afford expensive litigation, so take the necessary steps to protect yourself from foreign and local government intervention. 

Conclusion

Although you can identify a few threats to your eCommerce store’s success, it could be you who is the biggest threat to your business. Not paying attention to changing technology or securing your site could have detrimental effects.

Customers have long memories and may not forgive you quickly. It’s always best to take steps to mitigate issues before they arise rather than spend precious time on damage control. Consider the potential impact and take steps to prevent harm to your brand image.