Fear of data breaches at major retail outlets has bolstered demand for advanced information protection frameworks for POS systems.

A number of tech organizations are working to satisfy this need, with some employing new hardware configurations while others are leveraging strategic partnerships. While the environment may be diverse the goal remains the same: protect financial transactions. 

Collaborating in the name of defense 
Retail Customer Experience noted that Feedzai and Encap Security are working together to enhance each others' signature platforms. While the latter company specializes in mobile authentication, the former uses data analytics and behavioral profiling to detect and prevent fraud. The accord was created to make Feedzai's fraud deterrent platform cohesive with Encap Security's authentication program. 

"Consumers are using more devices to conduct financial transactions, and at the same time, are demanding more protection but with less intrusion into their commerce journey," said Feedzai CEO Nuno Sebastiao, according to the source. "Adding smart authentication and artificially intelligent risk engines on the back end offers safety without being obtrusive and penalizing good consumers."

As Sebastiao noted, shoppers are purchasing goods from a wide variety of devices at incremental parts of the day, often on unprotected networks. Collaboration between Feedzai and Encap is keeping this level of convenience in mind by placing much of the authentication responsibilities in back-end platforms, providing consumers with a quick but safe way to buy products. It's a principle that Encap Security VP of Business Development Adam Dolby cited as a chief concern of his and Sebastiao's organizations. 

No device left behind 
In a move that may surprise some companies, chip producer Intel recently launched a system capable of providing endpoint encryption of financial information, which can be built into POS software. Infotech Lead noted the solution reduces the amount risk involved with transporting data from POS devices to data centers hosting servers on which authorization programs are running. 

How does it work? It implements a protected pathway among the transaction endpoint, POS platform and server network whenever a purchase is initiated. While compatible with debit and credit cards using magnetic stripes, the technology also works with EMV and near field communication transaction readers such as Google Wallet, Softcard and Apple Pay. All in all, Intel Data Protection Technology for Transactions is cohesive with all retail POS platforms running off select Intel processors. 

These efforts are conducive to helping merchants bolster their security credentials. 

It seems as if every month news of a recent data infiltration hits the presses, each one more disconcerting than the last. 

Some retailers have taken more extensive measures than others in regard to implementing effective information protection methods, but it's evident the U.S. executive body believes more can be done.

Going beyond Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards
Retail Customer Experience noted that President Barack Obama recently signed an executive order in response to the massive data breaches experienced by some of the nation's largest companies.

Appropriately dubbed "BuySecure," the endeavor will provide assistance to those who have fallen victim to identify theft, enhance the public sector's payment defense systems and jumpstart a broad transition to more robust security strategies and tools.

In addition, Obama intends to hold a White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection, which will transpire sometime near the end of 2014. The gathering will be comprised of those invested in the consumer financial arena so that they can encourage adherence to stronger protection obligations and detail future technologies that will better combat cybercrime.

Focusing on debit and credit cards
Overall, the document supplied by the Presidential office alludes to migration away from debit and credit cards that use magnetic strips and PIN numbers. This could lead to the use of EMV cards, which are equipped with microprocessors that contain encryption tools not available with traditional cards.

Yet, the benefits associated with EMV aren't expected to have a major impact on the U.S. after widespread use is implemented. In order for this transition to have the desired effect, retailers across the nation need to revise their ecommerce software and POS systems to accept EMV cards. Otherwise, EMV's features may actually cause more vulnerabilities.

PYMNTS noted PCI Council Chief Bob Russo's take on the issue, saying that EMV's widespread deployment will help in the long term, but may cause disruptions during the transition period.

"These hackers [will] take advantage of, at least in the face-to-face environment, getting this credit card data," said Russo, as quoted by the source. "As we saw in other, mature EMV markets, typically the fraud is going to go up before EMV becomes embedded here in the United States. So, get prepared, for fraud is coming, and it's coming very, very strongly."

Regardless of the executive order or Russo's affirmations, it's clear that merchants must take the initiative and implement stronger security features on their own.

While data breaches at big-name retailers often enter the public sphere, intrusions at specialty stores often go unnoticed. 

It's easy to assume that cybercriminals ignore medium-sized merchants, but they're far less picky than people would think. Why target the perceived "small fries" of the retail industry? Because hackers are interested in credit and debit card data, no matter where it resides. 

Backoff's effect on merchandising 
Small Business Computing noted the prevalence of the Backoff malware, which peruses environments for credit card numbers and matches them with security keys. Once the data has been matched, it's delivered to the hacker that planted the worm in the first place, allowing him or her to either sell the information or use it for his or her own purposes. 

"For every one that we hear about, there are hundreds of small businesses affected," said Andrew Bagrin, in reference to his cloud-based data security firm My Digital Shield, as quoted by the source. "I have a feeling that it's just the beginning." 

Slow to get back up (if at all) 
When a small or mid-sized retailer is hit by a malware attack, it can't recover in the way larger merchants can. While big box enterprises still sustain setbacks when cybercriminals infiltrate their databases, they can utilize a large amount of available resources to mitigate and resolve such issues. 

On the other hand, smaller operations may have to close up shop. Bagrin noted findings from the National Cyber Security Alliance, which asserted 60 percent of small businesses that encounter attacks shut down within six months after such an event occurs. 

Why tokenization is the way to go 
It's easy for people to confuse encryption and tokenization as the same technology. ITWorldCanada contributor Michael Ball identified the differences between the two. The former security protocol involves encoding sensitive data at rest and in transit, while copies of encrypted information reside in other environments. In addition, encrypted data is actually intended to be decrypted (by authorized parties, of course). 

In contrast, tokenization removes these loopholes by replacing existing information with a "unique placeholder" that is randomly generated. This replaces valid credit card numbers with fake ones, but must still be granted access through a validation algorithm. Essentially, tokenization renders hacking attempts useless, because the original data no longer exists. In addition, it's difficult – if not impossible – for a skilled cybercriminal to reverse engineer the token. 

While encryption is a common security measure, implementing tokenization is a best practice every retailer should employ. 

The way consumers shop is changing rapidly, as more individuals are going online to make purchases and research products. This is creating new paths to purchase that retailers should watch. Knowing how consumers go from browsing to purchasing can help retailers better configure their ecommerce software to cater to these trends. The path to purchase encompasses the consumer journey from the moment they discover a product to the moment they buy the item in question.

To get from point A to point B, shoppers may research product information, compare prices between retailers, read consumer reviews and visit brick-and-mortar locations to see the item in person before deciding to buy. These days, this process takes far less time than it used to, thanks to the Internet and mobile technology, which means marketers need to find new ways to appeal to consumers.

Consumer need for speed
A study conducted by Parago, a retail incentive provider, at the end of 2013 examined the path-to-purchase habits of shoppers during the holiday season, arguably the busiest time of year for retail. The results showed that the average amount of time it takes consumers to make a purchase is 2.25 days, taking into account every step of the process from deciding on an item to researching options, choosing a retailer and completing the transaction at the point of sale. This leaves a pretty small window for retail marketing efforts, which will require businesses to match the speed at which consumers can now research and shop for small purchases such as clothing and big-ticket items like home appliances thanks to mobile devices, according to Chief Marketer.

Developing an omnichannel marketing approach can be a good way to drive business. Shoppers may be more inclined to purchase an item if they can do so on their smartphones and then pick up the purchase in-store, saving them time and making the entire process smoother. For this, it will also be important to have POS software that can offer secure, diverse mobile payment options.

Competitive edge can win over shoppers
Consumers have the ability to comparison shop instantly with their smartphones, and about half do so in-store, according to the study. This means they can also easily track down which retailers are holding sales and offering discounts. Since 88 percent of shoppers will look for coupons and other deals before they make a purchase, it may be worth exploring rewards options that give consumers the incentive they need to get to the point of sale.

Small and medium-sized businesses typically have to work harder to keep up with large retailers, and a recent report found that many are looking to enhance the point of sale experience by investing in POS software that caters to mobile users. With mPOS systems in place, small retailers can accept all credit cards with ease.

"Small businesses have traditionally been reluctant to accept card payments, but across Europe that is starting to change – mPOS is the catalyst for that. It's a solution that dispels many of the convictions previously held and genuinely works for small businesses if they are accepting payments at their premises or on the go," Caroline Drolet, Visa Europe's head of mobile point of sale, told BizReport.

Europe is going mobile
As technology advances, more options become available in just about every sector, and this includes retail POS systems. Visa Europe surveyed 2,000 small businesses in France, Germany, the U.K., Poland and Italy and found that more than 25 percent are planning to invest in mobile POS software within the coming six months. When asked which features they wanted in their software, the retailers indicated that security was the No. 1 priority. When customers feel their personal information is safe, they'll be more likely to make purchases. Having an mPOS that accepts all major credit cards was another important factor that small and medium-sized businesses wanted to see in the software.

Benefits of mPOS
​When retailers are able to accept payments through mobile devices, they instantly have flexibility not afforded by traditional point of sale setups, such as kiosks and registers. For instance, retailers may be able to give their staff mobile devices with POS software installed. This way, when an employee is helping a customer choose an item, he or she can also ring up the purchase and help expedite the shopping process.

This comes in especially handy for entrepreneurs and upstart businesses, as mPOS systems can be used in any setting. Whether retailers are attending conventions and fairs or taking part in local farmers markets, they will be able to accept a variety of payments. When businesses only accept cash, they may lose sales if shoppers aren't carrying currency, so having the ability to take credit and debit cards will improve conversion rates of browsers to buyers.

When you give customers more payment options at the point of sale, you may be encouraging them to shop at your stores again in the future, especially if you offer mobile payments. There are numerous mobile payment options already, such as PayPal and LevelUp, and now stores are entering the digital payment marketplace.

Major retailers, such as big-box stores, have begun to offer apps that shoppers can download and use to pay for their purchases instead of cash or credit cards, and this may be the wave of the future, according to Reuters. Recent Gartner research predicted that the global market for mobile payments is set to triple by 2017, which could give retailers a leg-up on the competition if they adopt this technology sooner rather than later.

Retailers don't necessarily have to develop their own mobile payment software, as there are plenty of third-party options to choose from. Reuters reported that the competition in this growing sector of consumer payment services could result in lower retailer fees for payment processing and bring down costs.

Gartner predicted that the mobile payment market could be worth as much as $721 billion by 2017, with more than 450 million people using the services to make purchases, so retailers might want to start looking into mobile payment options that they can integrate with their POS software to improve the buyer experience.

Getting customers to visit your ecommerce website is only a small part of the battle, but converting a site visit to a sale takes more effort. There are a number of options for improving the customer experience of your online store, and each has its own advantages. 

Optimized content
With more consumers using mobile devices to browse online retail stores, it has become increasingly important for ecommerce sites to be functional and intuitive across all channels. Business 2 Community pointed out that shoppers may arrive on individual product pages and not necessarily the main website, which makes it essential to have optimized product pages that will be easy to navigate whether a customer is looking at it on a smartphone, tablet or computer screen.

Enhanced details
Adding more detail to your site, from more in-depth product descriptions to better photos of products, can help turn window shoppers into paying customers. Practical Ecommerce suggested including videos that show off products in a visually appealing way to give customers a better feel for items they might want to buy. You may also want to consider ecommerce software that creates more transparency when it comes to the point of sale. 

Streamlined point of sale
Many customers have abandoned their shopping carts when they found a retailer's POS software to be lacking. Streamlining the experience by eliminating redundancy can go a long way to reassure customers about their decision to make a purchase. According to Business 2 Community, having forms for both billing and shipping addresses can be a hindrance if customers have to fill out the same information twice. Offering an option to automatically copy the information from one to the other can be a good place to start. It's also important to make the checkout page of your site easy to read, featuring important details such as shipping options, payment selection and security information.

Shipping and payment options
Giving buyers options can make all the difference when it comes to completing a sale. A recent EConsultancy survey revealed that 50 percent of online shoppers have abandoned their carts because the delivery options weren't good enough. The survey also looked into what options consumers prefer. Fixed delivery dates ranked highest at 31 percent, while next-day delivery and in-store pickup rounded out the top three services shoppers want from online retailers.

Efficient point of sale software and trained employees can help keep lines moving smoothly and quickly. When a retail POS system works well, cashiers are able to quickly ring up a consumer's purchases, which can be key to keeping lines short and wait times to a minimum. In turn, this may increase sales revenue, as evidenced by a recent U.K. study.

The British have long been known for their ability to stand in line, and even the BBC acknowledges this unique skill to "queue" that Brits all seem to possess. However, even they have a breaking point. EE, a leading digital communications company in the U.K., recently surveyed 2,000 British consumers about the shopping experience, and found that most respondents would rather abandon their items than wait in line for more than a few minutes.

Some shoppers had more patience than others, as 29 percent would give up after waiting for two minutes, 59 percent said they could last at most for four minutes, and 73 percent indicated that six minutes was the maximum amount of time they'd spend in line before leaving without buying anything. EE estimated that this led to a loss of about £1 billion (about $1.7 billion) in annual sales across the U.K.