Articles about Shopping

New research from customer engagement platform Twilio shows older consumers are being left behind when businesses digitize their customer facing operations.

Although consumers over 65 hold significant digital shopping power, with 76 percent relying on online shopping in the UK, only 12 percent say they feel understood by brands they interact with digitally.

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Checkout-free shopping is revolutionizing the retail space, cutting down on time wasted in line and improving customer experience while shopping. Though the idea of checkout-free technology powering your shopping trips may seem like a far-off technology, it actually utilizes three established technological components that work together to provide a smooth and frictionless shopping experience.

Each of these technologies, deep learning, sensor fusion, and computer vision, work synergistically to make futuristic-seeming technology part of our everyday lives. 

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There’s an inevitable spike in online security threats accompanying the surge in online shopping over the past couple of years, mainly driven by the recent pandemic. As more and more retailers embrace and adopt e-commerce sites to expand their customer base, increased cybersecurity levels are a must to ensure a safe and positive customer experience. 

As a business owner, the greatest threat that cyberattacks represent is loss of sales and unhappy customers, which can really make or break a business as a whole. Since many cyberattacks are executed in hidden and unsuspecting ways, identifying and battling them can become a challenge. Let’s take a look at the top four online shopping security threats and how to avoid them in 2022. 

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If your laptop or tablet PC only has USB-C, you can buy a home docking station, such as this one from VisionTek, to expand the connectivity. But what if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a dock, plus you really only need to add video output functionality? For instance, maybe you just need to add HDMI. In that case, a single-purpose dongle can save you some money. These dongles can be good for portability too, as they won't take up much room in a travel bag.

Today, StarTech.com launches five new USB-C video dongles, all of which feature long 12-inch cables. Why are five products necessary? Because each USB-C adapter offers a different connection type on the other end -- HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, and DVI. In other words, no matter what type of television, monitor, or projector you have, StarTech.com has you covered.

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One of the side effects of the pandemic over the last two years has been a boom in online shopping. But is this something that's here to stay? And what are we likely to see happening in the eCommerce field in 2022?

Here is what some of the industry’s experts think will be next year's trends.

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Poor account and password experiences at checkout mean two-thirds of shoppers abandon a shopping cart if they need to create an account according to new research.

Passwordless security firm, Beyond Identity surveyed more than 1,000 people in the UK and found that 62 percent of respondents have abandoned a shopping cart if required to create an account.

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Bots tend to have a poor reputation, launching cyber attacks, beating you to the best bargains on eCommerce sites and generally being a bit of a pain in the Net.

Nowadays bots are frequently available 'as-a-service' so it's possible to rent one for a period of time to execute an attack. But, according to research for Cequence Security, 32 percent of respondents say they've used a shopping bot before and 38 percent say they might in the future. So that's 70 percent of people who are thinking, 'If you can't beat them, join them.'

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A new report from Imperva suggests that the 2021 holiday shopping season faces disruption by cybercriminals looking to create chaos and take advantage of the global supply chain crisis.

Bot attacks against retail sites have risen by 13 percent in 2021, with 57 percent of attacks recorded on eCommerce websites this year carried out by bots. In comparison, bad bots made up just 33 percent of the total attacks on websites in all other industries in 2021.

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Summer is quickly coming to a close, and before you know it, the school season will begin. Many parents are understandably excited to get their children out of the house and back to school. At the same time, their kids are likely dreading their return to education. I mean, learning is cool and all, but nothing beats summer fun in the sun.

Of course, the end of the summer means back-to-school shopping is now in full effect, and many students will be needing a new computer for their studies. A laptop is ideal for portability, but should you choose Windows or Mac? My suggestion is to go in a different direction -- Linux! An operating system based on the open source kernel can better prepare a child for the future.

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While everyone is enjoying the beautiful summer weather, there is something quite terrifying for children on the horizon -- school. Yeah, summer vacation will be over before they know it, and it is already time to do back-to-school shopping. While buying pencils and three-ring binders is boring, shopping for a new laptop for school can be a lot of fun.

Thankfully, students in 2021 don't have to use an old-school Windows notebook like their dad or grandad. Instead, kids can use Linux to optimize their education. After all, Linux is more hip and cool than Windows 11 can ever be. To paraphrase now-deceased First Lady Nancy Reagan, children should "just say no" to waiting for a laptop running the upcoming Windows 11.

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There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape of the retail sector. Social distancing regulations and civil anxiety surrounding the virus mean that physical stores do not offer the same browsing experience as we would usually expect. Meanwhile, a growing reliance on online shopping has been boosted by instructions to remain at home as much as possible.

The impact of COVID-19 and our new shopping behaviors have a profound effect on retailers. Changed buying experiences, falling and rising sales, and new consumer demands have defined an adverse year in retail. Here, we look at how customers and businesses have been affected by these changes.

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Holiday shoppers are largely housebound this year, meaning many consumers are doing most of their gift-buying online. We’re seeing record-breaking turnouts for virtual sales, with Cyber Monday

experiencing 30 percent growth year-over-year. Retailers are under an incredible amount of pressure to deliver an exceptional experience, even though many are likely dealing with volumes of online orders they’ve never had to handle before. Cybercriminals see this as a brilliant opportunity to execute ransomware campaigns, as any disruption can be detrimental to retailers during this season.

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Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday season have become prime targets for cybercriminals in recent years, as online retailers make it a global phenomenon that is no longer a one-day only event. As we approach this time of the year, cybercriminals will be looking to take advantage of the millions of shoppers who will take to the internet in search of the best deals.

This holiday season, more people than ever before, will shop online in the interest of public safety due to COVID-19, some of whom will have little to no previous experience navigating online shopping and almost no internet security knowledge.

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Companies that connect employee experiences with customer experiences improve both, with dramatic boosts in revenue growth and customer satisfaction according to a new study.

The research conducted by Forrester Consulting for Lucidworks finds most brands put personalization and omnichannel capabilities at the top of their enterprise-level priority list. however, two-thirds of respondents report an inability to consistently service customers across touchpoints and personalize those experiences.

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A new threat intelligence report from Imperva Research Labs looks at the varying cybersecurity attack risks facing the retail industry.

The findings suggest peak levels of traffic will be seen throughout the holiday shopping season as large numbers of consumers turn to online channels to purchase goods. Shortly after stay-at-home orders were issued, web traffic to retail sites spiked by as much as 28 percent over the weekly average.

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