Effective online security in ecommerce is crucial not just for protecting against data breaches, but also for building and maintaining trust between businesses and consumers. When customers feel confident that their personal information is safe and secure, they are more likely to engage and establish long-term relationships with brands. On the other hand, a single security lapse can have far-reaching consequences for this industry, eroding trust, damaging reputation, and potentially leading to legal and financial liabilities.
Ecommerce companies are constantly making changes to their website – content is in flux as inventory changes, but there is also pressure to fine-tune performance. How do you balance the needs of the customer while providing a safe, resilient, and fast experience? In this post, we will take a closer look at the challenges facing ecommerce companies and recommend optimization strategies when it comes to both online security and performance.
1 – Upgrade to an effective and unintrusive Web Application Firewall
Security is one of the most important areas where ecommerce companies should focus. Better security and bot protection can help ensure their sites stay up and available. When choosing an effective WAF solution, it should never affect the overall latency with which online shoppers experience your website. Some security solutions, especially on-prem WAFs, can create their own bottlenecks as requests for security checks pile up in the queue. Edge security solutions can help, but not all edge security solutions are built equally well for latency.
If your security checks happen on a separate edge network from the rest of your operations then there’s a latency tax every time a request has to hop from one network (like from your CDN network or edge computing) over to the security network and back.
As an ultra-responsive online outlet is the cornerstone of every online store, ecommerce brands should consider the benefits that can come by embracing edge computing together with security. As an example, authentication at the edge can be executed far quicker as no query has to be sent to servers at headquarters.
Having real-time monitoring tools, threat detection systems, and incident response plans in place allows ecommerce companies to detect and respond to security breaches promptly, minimizing the impact while also mitigating further damage. By prioritizing security and investing in proactive measures to combat online threats, businesses can protect their customers’ sensitive data and earn their trust and loyalty.
2 – React quicker to market demands by implementing faster development cycles
Ecommerce companies often struggle to shorten the development cycles of their complex and highly optimized applications. While project and resource management can help, advancements in edge technologies offer significant improvements in performance, productivity, and speed. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) is one such area where edge deployment can help with faster deployment and scalability.
CI/CD practices benefit a wide range of development teams, but those with frequent code changes benefit the most. Automating integration and deployment processes reduces the risk of errors and ensures that changes are quickly and reliably pushed to production. Teams tasked with smaller application development, such as web or mobile, benefit greatly from the agility brought by CI/CD. It allows them to iterate quickly, gather user feedback, and deploy updates rapidly, helping companies stay competitive. Overall, development teams that prioritize speed, reliability, and agility in their software delivery processes stand to gain the most from adopting CI/CD practices.
Incremental releases allow you to continuously develop and implement new use cases, which may influence future software updates. This approach also enables you to discover issues along the way, rather than waiting for a complete release, at which point multiple bugs may be intertwined and harder to detect and address. Furthermore, it allows you to quickly respond to bugs and new requirements. There is also an important security component here: DevOps teams can rapidly release bug fixes in reaction to newly exposed security vulnerabilities and provide instant protection for applications and web properties.
When building out shopping apps to support new features such as “typically bought with”, it’s crucial to exercise caution when adding features that can potentially slow down performance. While new features can enhance user experience, each addition introduces complexity that can impact app speed and responsiveness. Prioritize optimizing existing features and carefully evaluate the performance impact of new additions to ensure a seamless shopping experience for users across various devices and network conditions.
3 – Take your ecommerce business to the edge
Personalization is a crucial aspect that enhances the experience of customers and businesses alike. Using customer data and behavioral insights, online stores can customize product recommendations, marketing messages, and appearance according to individual preferences, interests, and browsing history. This level of customization fosters a deeper connection between customers and brands, leading to higher chances of converting customers by presenting relevant and compelling offers. Personalization builds customer loyalty and satisfaction by creating a more engaging and intuitive shopping experience, ultimately leading to higher retention rates and lifetime customer value. Additionally, personalization enables businesses to optimize their marketing spend by targeting specific audience segments with relevant promotions, thereby maximizing their return on investment and driving revenue growth in the highly competitive ecommerce landscape.
Edge computing is an ideal solution for ecommerce businesses looking to personalize their customers’ shopping experience by processing and analyzing data in real-time, closer to the user’s device. By taking advantage of edge computing capabilities, ecommerce companies can quickly gather and analyze user data within just a few milliseconds. In addition, by personalizing the shopping experience directly at the network’s edge, ecommerce companies can reduce latency and improve responsiveness, increasing customer engagement and satisfaction. Image optimization and A/B testing are great examples of something that can be executed at the edge rather than at the backend. Not only is latency brought to a minimum, but you are also freeing up costly resources at the data center.
Further, edge computing brings the computational resources closer to the source of data generation, significantly reducing latency, resulting in faster response times and improved user experiences, which can translate into higher sales. It also allows ecommerce businesses to quickly adapt to evolving user interactions and market trends, ensuring that personalized experiences remain relevant.
Finally, the proximity provided by edge computing also enhances security by minimizing the exposure of sensitive data to potential cyber threats. Furthermore, edge computing enables applications to function seamlessly in ecommerce.
