In the highly competitive grocery and restaurant industries, business leaders know it’s critical to create a positive customer experience, especially when ensuring a seamless payment process.
But even as grocers and restauranteurs increase their digital payment options to make the process easier, they may often overlook the necessary barriers to keep their business and customers safe from payment fraud.
Survey: challenges of CX overshadow payment security
In a recent survey by Industry Dive and Cybersource, respondents from grocery and restaurant businesses said their biggest challenge was giving customers a unified, seamless, frictionless experience regardless of payment method. The challenge is understandable. Some grocers and restaurant leaders may have already increased their digital capabilities pre-pandemic, while others may have only recently accelerated their digital transformations to provide the eCommerce offerings consumers demand.
The next vital task that businesses face is ensuring all technologies work well together, so customers can easily make purchases using cash, card, app, third-party or digital wallets. Survey respondents said offering these options was key to increasing customer loyalty.1 But in an effort to provide a positive experience, grocery and restaurants may not be focusing enough on enabling the security of payment and loyalty programs.
Enough concern about payment fraud?
Although nearly 38% of grocery and restaurant owners say maintaining payment security is a significant challenge, almost 35% of respondents said since January 2021, they hadn’t experienced any payment security issues.1 The biggest issue respondents mentioned related to fraud was not an act of fraud itself, but the time required to authenticate an online transaction or ask for additional verification information. If businesses aren’t seeing the risk of fraud, they may not prioritize it.
However, even when fraud isn’t obvious, it may still occur. Although 35% of respondents in the survey hadn’t experienced payment security issues, 65% did. The most frequent problems were chargebacks (28.1%), transactional fraud/card testing (25.5%), data breaches (17.6%), and account takeovers (11.8%). These signs of fraud can indicate in-depth problems that shouldn’t be overlooked.1
Grocery stores and restaurants are vulnerable
Grocers and restaurant leaders shouldn’t assume they’ll fall under the radar against fraudsters. As these businesses deepen their reliance on digital, it’s natural to presume that fraudsters may also seek to increase their efforts to access digital payment and loyalty programs.
In fact, numerous reports indicate restaurants and grocers are especially vulnerable to cybercrime.2,3 The irony is that grocery and restaurant leaders may worry that fraud solutions that provide additional protections can create a negative customer experience by slowing transactions. But an account takeover, data breach, or other fraudulent activity can permanently damage customer experience and loyalty.
Fortunately, grocers and restaurant leaders don’t have to choose an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to customer experience and payment security. The right fraud prevention solutions can help businesses succeed in their digital journey, enhance a seamless transaction process while also protecting customers’ payment and loyalty data.
How can you get ahead in the market for meals? Read the latest survey here to find out more about the restaurant and grocery top payment challenges.
1 “How can you get ahead in the market for meals? Restaurant and grocery top challenges” Cybersource.com, 2022, https://www.cybersource.com/en-us/solutions/payment-acceptance/restaurant-and-grocery-payments.html.
2 “Why Are Restaurants Easy Targets for Cyber Criminals?” QSR Magazine, www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/why-are-restaurants-easy-targets-cyber-criminals. Accessed 30 Mar. 2022.
3 Cimpanu, Catalin. “FBI Warns of Credential Stuffing Attacks against Grocery and Food Delivery Services.” The Record by Recorded Future, 18 Aug. 2021, therecord.media/fbi-warns-of-credential-stuffing-attacks-against-grocery-and-food-delivery-services.
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