Thursday, February 5, 2009

Paradigm Shift E-vidence Continues to Stack Up

In a continuing series of Paradigm Shift posts, I bring you this.   Earlier this week, Macy's announced they were cutting 7000 jobs amid reorganization.  Meanwhile, Amazon had it's best quarter ever. Something's going on here.  Let's take a closer look.

Yesterday Internet Retailer reported:

"Growth for the 110 e-retailers that have reported 2008 sales, so far, has reached 21.8% over 2007.  That's $33.50 billion for those same e-tailers in 2008 vs. $27.46 billion in 2007"

Let's just say that the bricks and mortar circuit didn't quite fare so well, and leave it at that. 

I was only joking back in December when I said that one November Thursday we'll turn on our TV to watch the Amazon Thanksgiving Day Parade...in fact, if I remember correctly, I think I may have even called that the "Parade-igm" shift.  Maybe I wasn't so off-base.

Speaking of shifts, there's an article out of the U.K. saying that more shoppers are preferring e-commerce over bricks and mortar.  It also says consumers prefer to "let their fingers do the shopping."  That's true, and there's a preponderance of mounting e-vidence pointing to that being fact, rather than speculation.

Apparently the Yellow Pages were way ahead of their time with their "let your fingers do the walking slogan, and that all well and good...

...until checkout time.  It's at that point whereby you should be taking out your card and putting those fingers on hold. Because if you are tempted to touch any keys when they ask for your card number, then here's  7 "key "words: 

"You Should be SwipePIN' instead of Typin'."


As the Paradigm Shifts into second gear, on the Internet Autobahn originally dubbed the information highway,  HomeATM will be there with our End Encrypted, Dually-Authenticated PIN Debit solution for the web.  (Did I forget to mention that by "SwipePin" instead of "Typin" we morph the transaction from "card not present" into a "card present" transaction?")  I didn't think so.
 

The Internet was originally called the  Information Highway for a reason.  When you "type vs. swipe", someone's going to be there to commit highway robbery...the information is out there  to be had.  If you don't want to be the one being "had, then simply stop being that "type" of online shopper. 

Would you not agree that if someone's going to be SwipePin' your card information, it should be you instead of the bad guys? 

Recent breaches/hacks at CardSystems, TJX, RBS Worldpay, and Heartland aren't a whisper...they're a shout!  Are they an anomaly?  If so, which one?  Sure, I understand that the V/MC, and EFT networks won't make as much revenue per transaction, but at whose expense are they making it anyway? 

I would suggest they take a closer look at the bigger picture...on the flip side, they just may save money by incorporating a PIN Debit approach to the web.  How you say?  Here's how...maybe, they'd avoid a 100 million card holder breach, which has the potential (at $202 per compromise) ,to put a major dent in the money they're making by keeping security low and interchange high. 

The inherent nature (and value) of PIN Debit's built-in security , when swiped, (what you have=card and what you know=PIN) would empower e-tailers to process transactions at rates up to 100 basis points lower than they are currently paying.  

Do the math on $33.50 billion dollars, (the figure Internet Retailer is reporting with only 22% of the results in, from last year) and multiply that  figure by 100 basis points.  That's money that would go back into the economy instead of into the coffers of lawyers defending Visa and MasterCard in court for Antitrust Violations


So, in my humble opinion, the time has arrived for the inevitable to occur.  We need to protect consumers and we need to protect e-merchants.  A more secure transaction via dually-authenticated end to end encryption shouldn't be "explored", it's the way it should be done...and HomeATM has been doing it that way, with $0 fraud since January '07.  
Oh...BTW...I almost forgot...here's the story providing further e-vidence of that Paradigm Shift...


Retailers lacking e-commerce likely to perish - CBR

Retailers who do not provide an online sales option to their customers are going to lose out on their business, as more shoppers are preferring e-commerce to high street shopping.

Businesses which do not invest in e-commerce are 30% more likely to fail, says Tenon Recovery, a turnaround, restructuring, recovery and insolvency specialist. Online retail sales in the UK rose from £46.6 billion in 2007 to £53.2 billion in 2008.

The rise in online sales was simultaneously marked by the closure of several high street stores. According to Tenon Recovery, the high street casualties are increasing as the businesses are investing more in brick and mortar buildings but not in e-commerce sites.

Carl Jackson, national head of Tenon Recovery, says that the new-age consumers like to go shopping with their fingers rather than their feet, as it is easier for them to compare prices online than move around the high street. Businesses which do not enable their consumers to shop 24 hours a day are at a disadvantage.

Tenon Recovery’s estimates are in line with the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index for 2008, which has found that the online sales in the UK in December last year increased by 14.2% from 2007.

In an excerpt from a related story, "Online Sales to Jump Next Christmas" the e-vidence in the shift from retail, bricks and mortar, high street, call it what you will, to online is also mounting...
"...of the 2,000 consumers surveyed, 37% did more than half of their shopping online, while 59.9% spent more online this Christmas than last year.

Research undertaken by Capgemini, as part of the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, also observed that online sales have been increasing in spite of a fall in the growth of high street, as shoppers are turning to e-tailers to beat credit crunch.  (Editor's Note:  You can replace "credit crunch" with Snow, High Price of Gas, Time, etc.)

Matthew Tod, CEO at Logan Tod, said: “With 53% of those surveyed intending to increase online purchases for Christams’09, online retailers can look to see a sustained growth level as consumers continue to adopt the habit of online shopping.”

continue reading original story at CBR eCommerce








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