The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, was established to reduce the risk of breaches and all merchants that accept credit cards are required to comply.  But in reality many retailers are not compliant due to lack of time and resources and misconceptions about the requirements for compliance. The lack of adequate security has made retailers a primary target for hackers, with as many as 1 in 6 small businesses suffering from a breach in the next 24 months¹.  Restaurants are particularly vulnerable; according to Visa, in 2011 restaurants accounted for 73% of all breach incidents in the U.S.

We often perform a quick initial assessment of companies by asking three simple questions:

• Have all employees completed a security awareness training program upon hire and annually thereafter?
• Have all employees read and signed a formal security policy?

Subscription commerce models are emerging as a way for retailers and consumer products suppliers to ensure consistent purchases and brand loyalty from consumers. In fact, companies such as Freshpair, Jockey, Swanson Vitamins and Teavana, are implementing SaaS-based solutions from OrderGroove to offer subscription-based delivery services. By providing pre-scheduled product shipments to consumers, retailers can increase customer satisfaction, as well as overall purchase rates.

The subscription model works for both pure play e-Commerce retailers and multichannel merchants. Recently, OneCupConnection.com, a single-serve coffee provider, partnered with OrderGroove to launch Continuous Cup, a subscription service designed to deliver coffee to shoppers’ homesI. Internal research has shown that Continuous Cup members purchase products more than twice as often as non-subscribers, according to Larry Pearl, spokesperson for OneCupConnection.com. 

Email marketing is a principal tool for marketers across industries. Retailers ranked among the highest performers in email marketing, according to a recent Silverpop benchmark study. Most marketers (60%) said email is producing an ROI, while 32% said the strategy eventually will produce a return, according to the 2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report from MarketingSherpa.

As the volume of emails sent both externally and internally continues to grow, retailers are challenged by tracking, analyzing and reporting email metrics.

Social networking sites are becoming integral to daily Internet behaviors. In the U.S. alone, people spent 121 billion minutes on social networking sites from July 2011 to July 2012, according to the 2012 Social Media Report from Nielsen. As a result, businesses across verticals are embracing social enterprise tools that help streamline and centralize corporate communications, and in turn, create more loyal and engaged employees.

Westfield Group, a developer and manager of approximately 105 shopping centers worldwide, has implemented Yammer to optimize social communication and collaboration across the organization — from executives to store employees. Yammer is a social network and application designed specifically to address the extensive needs of enterprises. Using tools and features available on the Yammer platform, Westfield successfully has built and maintained social dialogue among employees, creating a thriving ecosystem of loyal team members, according to Andy Hedges, Director of Shopping Center Management at Westfield Australia.