Savouring Simplicity

Simple Things In Life To Savour

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Have You Made Brand Safety A Priority?

The impact of Social media can no longer be ignored. More and more people spend their time and also make their decisions based on what they see or read on social media. Recommendations, reviews, and feedback on social media have a huge impact on purchase decisions. Social media can be used to communicate with many followers. As a consequence, influencer marketing is growing with the rise of social media. With influencer marketing, marketers are hoping to drive an impressive ROI.

Influencer marketing has many benefits - you can increase brand awareness and drive conversions. However, if the influencer falls out of favor with the audience then it can go awry very quickly. Brands need safety in their marketing spends and also want to protect their reputation. The first step in mitigating influencer marketing risk is determining the type of influencer the brand is engaging in. Three categories of influencer marketing are:

Mega-Influencers

This consists of popular actors, artists, athletes and social media stars who make influencer marketing their second source of income. Paying celebrities to share branded content on social media is a well-known form of influencer marketing. Using celebrities can be great for a brand but it also comes with risks. If the celebrity is involved in a scandal then very quickly this can become a huge liability for your brand safety. We have seen this happen so many times in the UK.

Macro-Influencers

This consists of executives, bloggers, thought leaders and other professionals who earn their living as influencers and have specialization is a specific industry such as fashion and lifestyle. When you employ a macro-influencer to promote your brand on social media, make sure they are authentic. You could do a sentimental analysis on content influencers are posting about your brand. If the same brand content is reported multiple times is a short period of time then the account might be automated.

Micro Influencers

Micro influencers are everyday customers, fans, and employees whose influence is driven by the strength of relationship within their networks. This involves fewer risks. They have smaller follower counts but more engaged followers.

According to a research, you can protect your brand through three key efforts.

Verified Measurement And Industry Benchmarking It is important to measure influencer marketing efforts. Look at the impact influencer marketing has on sales. Check the segments that use your products and how they use them to find any hidden opportunities. Monitor all your social media content to keep your brand safe.

Thorough Influencer Selection Process  Ensure that your influencers are real people. Check if they are the right match for your brand and their content matches your marketing strategy.

Proper Compliance With The Required Guidelines Illegal endorsements by influencers can damage the trust of followers and can leave influencers and brands in trouble with compliance authorities. So make sure compliance is in place.

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How Can Online Retailers Manage Security Breaches Better?

Who doesn't like online shopping?

You don't have to get off the couch to go the mall, try on hundreds of different clothes to buy just one of them, or search 10 different stores for that perfect gift. Everything you want is right in the palm of your hand.

Online shopping is slowly becoming an inherent part our lives; so much so that online spending accounted for £114bn of retail sales in 2015 alone.

But while demand for on-the-go shopping is forever increasing, so are the risks of security breaches on shopping websites. And apparently, online retailers aren't doing enough to keep them at bay.

Effective cyber security measures are needed to not only protect businesses, but also to protect customers and their personal information.

Here are some key aspects online retailers should focus on to significantly nullify the dangers of cyber threats:

1. Identity Management

Identity theft is a major problem that online retailers face, and parts of the problem are the inadequate identity management and scam prevention systems in place.

Identity management is used to monitor, authenticate, authorize, store and utilize customer/user information for online businesses.

Even a small crack in this line of defence can be a catalyst for identity theft on a massive scale.

Online retailers have to invest in robust identity management solutions that are always up-to-date on the latest trends in identity fraud, while also being flexible enough to modify or scale their systems in order to manage these threats effectively.

2. Secure Payment Systems and Data Encryption

Most retailers do use secure payment systems, but the issue lies in how they store customer data on their websites.

If retailer websites themselves aren't secure enough, the data can be easily accessed through a simple discrepancy in the system. What's the point in having secure payment systems then?

Data encryption is the answer. And while businesses use that too, most systems are simplistic or too outdated to be considered secure.

It's important that online shopping portals classify and encrypt all data using the latest and most secure techniques possible, while also ensuring that their encryption keys are also secured and out of reach of cyber criminals.

3. Incident Response

Incident response managing the aftermath of a security breach in a way that ensures damage control, faster recovery time and reduced costs.

A study by Resilient Systems found that 75 percent of organizations lack a formal incident response plan.

That is a huge number, and the solution involves investing in a good incident response platform while focusing on effective preparation, risk assessment and intelligence.

The best way online retailers can shore up their digital security is by planning and preparing from the outset, managing the threat of cyber-attacks proactively and learning from previous mistakes.

Doing this will help retailers protect themselves and their customers while mitigating and managing the adverse effects of cyber-crime on their businesses.

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Payza Merchants Can Now Process Payments Quickly

Payza is an online payment platform that can be used by only the licensed countries around the world. Right now Payza has been dealing with 21 countries enabling the Payza merchants to accept payments from their clients from anywhere.

The platform is highly secure and is a good payment option for the merchants. They provide good checkout system that enhances the experience of the customers. Also, you need to keep in mind if your customers are desktop or mobile users. The advantages of having a Payza account are as follows:

Personalized Checkout

If you are well aware of the technical skills and know-how, then you can personalize the checkout platform using the support from the Payza Developers community and the different APIs. The IPNs will let you receive notifications of instant payments. Two kinds of checkouts are specialized for the types of users.

In-Page Checkout

The in-page checkout generates a pop-up window that enables the customers to make a purchase. They provide the best customer experience mostly for the desktop users. This is because the pop-up window is of fixed placement and size. They are less than ideal for viewing on the mobiles. Thus, they have unique security features that protect the information of the customers.

Standard Checkout

The standard model is good for the mobile phone users. They are responsive and thus fit all types of screen sizes. It is a simple and streamlined interface and is ideal for reducing friction while one is making a purchase. In this process, the customers need to checkout in a separate window from the one of Payza account so that the customer information remains protected.

Large Customer Base

Payza is a checkout platform for over 9 million people all over the world. With them, the online merchants can access all the customers who are also Payza account holders. This helps to increase the customer base substantially. They are a payment platform that is user-friendly. Thus, the users find it simple to use. With Payza at your service, you no longer have to worry about your online business payments. The dedicated support team of Payza helps to achieve a more improved developed and concentrated business activity.

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5 Tips To Protect Yourself From Cybercrime In 2017

The market for e-Commerce has grown by leaps and bounds. Every business today more or less understands the need to establish an online presence. People come online to shop for everything from groceries to clothes to furniture and even bikes. This is primarily because of the convenience that online shopping offers - you can find the best deals from anywhere at anytime.

While the increase in revenues from e-Commerce has given online businesses and users a reason to celebrate there is one disturbing trend that has the potential to ruin the party. Cybercrime is increasing as the market for online shopping is growing. You have to be careful while shopping online to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime. Here are a few quick tips that can help you protect yourself from cyber criminals, fraudsters and scammers.

The first step is to find out what cybercrime is all about. There is plenty of information available on the net. The more you know about cyber crime trends and safety measures the better you will be aware of how to avoid them.

You should be especially wary of phishing emails. If you get an email from a company asking for your personal information, make sure you contact them directly via phone or email to verify the authenticity of the request before providing any information.

If you are using a public unsecured WiFi network, you are at the risk of exposing your personal information. Hackers frequently attack public wifi networks. Never carry out any financial transaction over an unsecured network.

Make sure you only buy online from sites that are secure and safe. Avoid buying from sites that you know nothing about. One way to determine this is by looking at user feedback and reviews that have been posted by other customers of the site. Also be careful while purchasing from low profile site. Always read the terms and conditions very carefully and use safe payment methods. Yes, the fine print is important! Secure sites use the https protocol which means that sensitive user information is encrypted while being transmitted over the wire making it less prone to attacks.

Always keep your system software up-to-date whether it is your mobile, laptop or computer. Use an antivirus to make sure you are protected from malware and other threats. Make sure you install patches and other updates provided by application owners and browser companies. These patches are often to fix security loopholes in the underlying software.

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The Payza Fraud Prevention Team Is A Force To Deal With

Online payment processors are a big boon for online shopping websites as they allow you to quickly add payment functionality to your website as well as provide a host of services to manage your customers and payments. While cost efficiency and reliability are very important requirements for the online payments industry, providing a secure payment platform is probably the most important requirement of all.

Payment processors such as Payza ensure security by a variety of means. The aim is to keep customer data safe be it personal information or payment details and also to prevent any kind of fraud or worse - money laundering.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

Know-your-customer popularly known as the KYC is the process of identifying and verifying the identity of the client by banks and other financial institutions. Payza follows a strict Know Your Customer policy to keep its member's accounts and network safe. New members have to go through a verification process and their bank and credit card information is validated. All merchant websites using Payza are screened using in-depth website reviews to prevent any fraud whatsoever thus building a high level of confidence in their customers.

Fraudmatrix

Payza also uses a proprietary Fraudmatrix that screens each and every transaction that goes through the system. The matrix is designed to identify common techniques used by hackers and scamsters and alert Payza accordingly. When you buy using Payza, the transaction is analyzed for suspicious activity. Also as cyber criminals are frequently coming up with new and unique ways to gain unauthorized access to personal and payment related data, the Payza fraud prevention team continuously upgrades the Fraudmatrix to keep it relevant.

Anti-money Laundering

Payza also follows strict rules and regulations to avoid any kind of money laundering activities. Verification of user accounts is a part of this process. Payza says it is committed to ensuring that its user accounts are not being used as a front for money laundering.

Payza encourages it customers to report any fraud or suspected fraud that they have come across as it believes that frauds can be prevented by working together.

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Online Payment Gateway Payza’s Fraud Matrix Keeps it Safe from Hackers

In today’s world of increasing online scams and data leaks, there is always a threat you might end up being one of the victims and losing money or worse losing your personal data. Websites dealing with financial transactions are particularly susceptible to such attacks and have to be always on their toes ensuring their defenses are constantly being updated to cope with latest techniques used by hackers and fraudsters to gain access to their user data.

Payza is an online payment platform that allows individuals and businesses to transfer money online. With a presence in more than 20 countries let us take a look at the most important question internet users ask today - is Payza safe?

Privacy

Payza has a security and privacy policy that ensures your data is not shared with others without your permission. This is a must for any website that captures your personal and payment related information. Users on Payza’s website can thus provide their information without worrying about it being used for anything other than the intended purpose.

Security

Payza uses the latest technology to ensure that cyber criminals do not unintentionally gain access to its data stores by exploiting any loopholes. In addition, Payza says that it uses a proprietary Fraud Matrix to keep any likely threats at bay. This Fraud Matrix has been very successful to date and has even kept attacks such as the Citadel at bay and Payza reported that not a single of its user accounts has been affected by it. If you remember, the Citadel Trojan caused major disruption as it compromised online banking and identity information of many users worldwide.

This definitely makes security at Payza legit compared to security at many other online websites. Payza goes on to add that it continuously updates its Fraud Matrix to ensure it is keeping pace with current tactics being used by cyber criminals.

Users Need to Be Vigilant Too

While we try to determine how safe is Payza, it is important to note that users should always be on their guard when posting their details on any online website be it Payza or otherwise. Simple checks like does the website use the https protocol can keep you safe. Also web users today should be wary of phishing attacks.

In summary, Payza definitely has hit the right note in terms of ensuring the security of its user accounts and being proactive in preventing frauds and cyber thefts.

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Don’t Fall For The Online Shopping Trap

According to a recent survey, UK leads European countries when it comes to online shopping. This is definitely not surprising. UK and Denmark have been amongst the biggest online shoppers in this part of the globe for some time now.

So what have we been shopping for? Clothes, sports items, household goods and travel deals are at the top of the list ahead of books, electronic items and groceries.

Benefits Of Online Shopping

With online shopping you can avoid crowds (who hasn’t suffered during the festive rush in shopping malls!), compare prices and find the latest money saving deals. It is great to be able to purchase almost everything you need from the comfort of your home. Purchasing from an established vendor also usually means you can be assured of timely delivery.

Beware The Pitfalls

With all the benefits come risks. If you take some simple precautions you can be assured your online shopping experience continues to be a pleasant one.

Go to well known sites for price comparisons and check for the “https://” to appear on the URL where you enter personal information. This means your personal and online payment information is being transmitted in a secure manner and thus cannot be stolen easily.

Be aware of text messages and gift card offers that prompt you to enter personal information as they may be fake. Phishing is one of the most common methods used by hackers to gain access to your data.

Make it a habit to review credit card statements regularly, especially if you do a lot of online shopping. This way you will discover unauthorised purchases before it is too late. Be very careful of the method you use for online payment. If the purchased item never arrives there is no easy way to get your money back in case of direct payments.

It is simply too easy to purchase online and thus often we end up purchasing items we don’t really need. Some online retailers use cookies to track your searches and website views and this information is then fed into the advertising network (a technique called remarketing). In this way retailers can customize the content being displayed to you. Be cautious when you purchase online and always check the returns policy before purchasing.

Happy Shopping!

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About Me

Hello, I am Sienna. I live in London - actually I have lived here all my life and yes, while I love this city, I do cherish a dream of moving to the countryside some day and living the laid back life. I hold a degree in Marketing and work as a Consumer scientist at the Marketing department of a startup firm. Studying online consumer behaviour and designing appropriate strategies to help online firms generate more business is part of my job. I must admit, I am an online shopaholic myself and a lot of the learning comes from my own shopping experiences.

Most of my weekends are spent with my two boys - Jack and Jason. They love camping and trekking and along with my husband we spend most of our vacations camping at national parks. Last year, we visited the Cairngorms National Park and it was one of our best family holidays ever. It was here that I started writing about my experiences and I have enjoyed blogging ever since. I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. Please do post your thoughts and comments.

Have a great day!