DHL, a global shipping company, aims at developing the current logistics infrastructure to boost EU’s ecommerce business beyond the region`s country borders.

"According to Andrej Busch, CEO DHL Parcel Europe:

• online retailers just needed to be able to get a product or service to an online buyer and the only requirement was enough infrastructure to enable shipping
• the second step was scalable infrastructure
• the shipping cost of an item had to be kept at a low rate in as much as to be still profitable to send it to a shopper, especially for the sale of consumer electronics online
• scalable infrastructure requires logistic density and delivery volume, which are features of more mature logistics networks
• online fashion required a convenient return policy infrastructure solution"

"Logistics will head towards the solutions for FMCG and grocery retailers who ship perishable, chilled and cheap items. DHL already provides grocery e-retailers with solutions such as the multi-box, which is a recyclable box that keeps items chilled until a customer can come home. The box can then be left out for a DHL courier to retrieve. DHL’s agenda for the future is to further export its logistics solutions to other European countries. The German logistics company is pooling existing European delivery networks (Benelux, Poland and Czech Republic) not just to introduce the infrastructure necessary for ecommerce, but as Andrej Busch emphasized, to seize on the chance to bring the idea of a united European Union market to life."

"While there are no customs or tangible borders between EU member states, individual European countries still behave like islands. Cross-border shipping is still expensive and people tend to buy domestically."

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Source Cpcstrategy.com

Fraud is becoming increasingly widespread since the dawn of ecommerce and as it becomes more and more sophisticated, we need greater visibility to fight malicious activity on our websites. Fraudsters’ warfare is based on deception, but the same data-led ideas that help us improve customer experience can be turned to unravelling fraud and disputes.

"1. Use behavioural analytics to detect suspicious customer activity

Behavioural analytics have become a vital part of meeting growing expectations of customer experience. Businesses are now able to collect and analyse vast amounts of information on why customers may have abandoned a transaction, what types of content make customers buy or convert, and how visitors behave on different devices. Analysing this data can help them understand customer behaviour and improve the quality of experiences across devices and channels."

"2. Take advantage of advanced forensic software tools that will help you replay website user sessions through the eyes the potential fraudster

Forensic investigations can explore the whole stream of data traffic, look for unusual behaviour or patterns in account numbers, IP addresses and email addresses, credit cards numbers and the items purchased. Ideally, security researchers will be able to replay malicious site visits through the eyes of the enemy."

"3. Act quickly to understand the full impact of the breach

Once a breach is discovered, businesses must act quickly to understand and be able to report on the potential full impact. Which accounts were breached? What personally identifiable information was displayed – and to whom?

Often, fraudsters do things that are not transactional in nature – i.e. there are no data changes on the backend. So, what is the harm? If personal data was obtained, this can be very dangerous because it may be used in subsequent attacks."

"4. Notify the affected parties while causing minimal disruption to the brand’s reputation

When an attack succeeds, businesses must also notify all affected parties. However, remedial action can be even more damaging. If the company doesn’t know what information was disclosed, then it has to notify its entire user base, which can be very public, embarrassing, and expensive."

"5. Continue using tools to identify potential data breaches in near real time

Identifying and understanding fraudulent activity before it gets out of hand is never easy, but businesses now have the tools they need to help them monitor all customer activity and replay customer sessions instantly as and when needed. By keeping a constant record of what is happening on your site, the scope of data breach remediation can be contained to the truly affected parties to avoid unnecessary publicity that will be a detriment to the brand."

More info here.

When it comes to using biometrics in ecommerce, Australian consumers are highly reluctant because they are concerned about the security of their personal data.

"Australians are more willing to have biometric-based security measures to verify the identity of passengers boarding aircraft at airports. Results shows that 75% of Australians mentioned they were willing to provide biometric information such as a fingerprint or photo so that an automated boarding gate could confirm their identities when they boarded a flight. Moreover, 71% of Australians said that they would be willing to provide personal biometric data to prove their identities as frequent travelers of low security risk."

"Only 33% of Australians declared they were willing to provide biometric information in order to access customised retail offers in the airport. And 63% said they were not willing to do so."

"The overall index for 2014 is 106 out of 300, down 23 points compared to the last survey in 2013. This means that Australians are considered “moderately concerned”. The top two areas of security concern for Australians are related to identity theft."

More info here.

For 2013, Chinese online retail sales have exceeded those in the US, thus gaining the first place in the world for ecommerce sales.

"China’s ecommerce and delivery industry both benefited from growth between 2006 and 2013, tripling the numbers to account to USD 294 billion (CNY 1.8 trillion) in 2013. The Chinese delivery industry is currently the second largest in the world."

"In the five years starting with 2008, China’s online shopping market had a constant annual growth rate of 70%, with 70 up to 300 million online shoppers. Out of the entire retail sector, online shopping initially made up for 1.3%, then jumped at 7.4%, according to insight provided by Wind Information."

"Findings indicate there was also an increase in what concerns the frequency of online transactions. In 2012, around 54% of consumers made online purchases more than ten times, and within this percentage, those who made more than USD 800 (CNY 5,000) per month doubled from 2008 to nearly 20%."

More info here.