Thursday, December 24, 2009

MasterCard Backs Off PCI Deadline

From StorefrontBacktalk: MasterCard has quietly backed off from a much-complained-about plan to require Level 2 merchants — for the first time — to have an on-site QSA assessment completed by the end of 2010. Having a New Year’s Eve deadline — on the heels of the all-encompassing holiday season — was a recipe for tons of missed deadlines.

The first MasterCard change made this month was pushing the Dec. 31, 2010, deadline back six months, to June 30, 2011. But MasterCard has also made two other key PCI changes. It has redefined what Level a retailer is (Level 1, 2, 3 or 4) to explicitly mirror whatever level Visa has determined. (The language used to say “competing brand.”) The last of the changes is to allow Level 1 and Level 2 retailers to perform their own assessments—using the retailer’s own salaried audit staff—as long as those audit staffers have passed PCI-approved training courses.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Acxiom Adds Social Link to E-mail Marketing

Acxiom, a leader in interactive marketing services, has introduced Impact-X™ Email 8.1, which integrates e-mail and social media while delivering marketing insights to drive improved performance for marketers as part of a major enhancement to the company's e-mail marketing platform.

Impact-X Email 8.1 includes a new share-with-social feature that allows e-mail recipients to simply click a button to post a message to their favorite social networks, without being subject to branding and registration from third-party vendors.

Additionally, sophisticated new analytics provide insights into how successful the newly created social conversations are in engaging consumers. Empowered with these new insights, marketers can segment their e-mail programs based on actual client influence and interaction with brand messages in the social channel.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

iovation Partners with Yvanto

iovation, located in Portland, OR, provider of the world’s first device reputation service for preventing online fraud and abuse, has partnered with Yvanto, a Montreal-based eCommerce fraud prevention solutions provider.

Founded in 2000, Yvanto specializes in online fraud detection, prevention and protection solutions. As part of its core offering, Yvanto’s fraud detection service analyzes online transactions by looking at a range of data elements in order to identify patterns indicative of fraud.

In addition to providing online data services, Yvanto offers multi-currency and language pre-paid electronic vouchers, loyalty rewards cards, address verification, as well as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and voice recording services.

By adding iovation's ReputationManager to its suite of fraud prevention services, Yvanto will be able to leverage iovation’s shared device reputation database of more than 180 million unique device reputations to block cybercriminals and identify activity consistent with fraudulent behavior.

Litle & Co. partners with iovation for online fraud prevention

iovation, provider of the world’s first device reputation service for preventing online fraud and abuse, announces its newest partner, Litle & Co., a leading provider of online payment processing and consultative merchant services. This partnership will combine the payment management and fraud protection expertise of both companies in order to help online businesses increase payment security and reduce losses.

Together iovation and Litle & Co. have more than two decades of experience working with ecommerce companies to minimize fraud risk when accepting payments online. “Our real-time device reputation service in the payment stream provides a valuable option for Litle & Co.’s customers,” said Greg Pierson, iovation CEO and founder.

iovation ReputationManager exposes cybercriminals by identifying the computers they are using to steal from online businesses and blocking fraudulent transaction attempts. iovation shares the reputations of those devices with customers through the world’s largest database of device fraud histories, enabling companies around the globe to benefit from each other.

“Like iovation, Litle & Co. is extremely focused on the needs of online and card-not-present merchants,” said Jason Pavona, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Litle & Co. “iovation’s niche expertise is a perfect fit with our payment management engine for direct commerce, which is designed to offer our merchants fraud solutions that are specific to their needs.”

Litle & Co. is one of few payments companies focused exclusively on providing payment management services aimed directly at businesses in the card-not-present market. The collaboration of Litle & Co. and iovation is not only mutually beneficial but will also help businesses increase fraud prevention while reducing the need for costly manual transaction review.

Enhancements to InOrder from Morse Data Corp.

Morse Corp. has announced that its InOrder multichannel order management suite now supports the setup, selling, redemption and reporting of Gift Cards. However, Gift Cards used in the InOrder system must be purchased through Morse Data because the Gift Card numbers and scratch off PIN's are associated by Morse Data when the Gift Cards are created.

InOrder also supports a Loyalty Program. Loyalty Points earned in the program are not treated as a balance sheet liability, like Gift Cards. Rather, they are a contingent liability. When redeemed, they are either a specific product or a flat dollar discount line item that is applied to the order.

InOrder also supports My ECheck Service, which offers an optional check guarantee service. Alternative forms of payment will account for nearly 26% of eCommerce volume this year alone. In using My ECheck Processing, merchants will have financial access to more customers than with any other payment method, according to Morse Data Corp and My ECheck.

MyECheck Processing is fully integrated with InOrder's manual order entry, electronic order import mapping, eShopping and the default .net cart, and even InOrder Point of Sales (POS) for immediate check validation.

MyECheck utilizes a patented method of creating and clearing remotely created checks (RCCs) for fast, secure and cost-effective payments. Click here to view a copy of the press release regarding the My E-Check Processing interface of InOrder.

Sanderson Upgrades StoreVision Solution

Sanderson, the publicly owned UK provider of retail and multichannel management solutions, has successfully installed the latest release of StoreVision at toy retailer Toys ‘N’ Tuck to improve corporate communications, provide specialized business reports, and enhance the in-store experience.

Toys ‘N’ Tuck has used the retail solution from Sanderson to run both their retail stores and head office functions for over three years. By upgrading to the latest release, the business is already benefiting from a number of additional features and functions available within this new version.

The independently owned and run Toys ‘N’ Tuck business comprises four retail stores, a mail order catalog, and an eCommerce division, each selling children’s toys and confectionery. All four stores are located in the Essex area of the UK, as is the central warehouse, where the mail order and eCommerce businesses are based.

Communication between the stores and warehouse has greatly improved since the upgrade, which in turn has enabled the business to deliver enhanced customer service. Inventory transfers have been simplified, with the stores having real-time visibility of stock held across the business; this functionality has both reduced missed sales and enhanced customer service by minimizing out-of-stocks.

Toys ‘N’ Tuck are also benefiting from the customer-facing screens provided by Sanderson. During the Christmas trading period, these screens will play promotional product videos, providing a persuasive vehicle for upselling and cross-selling as well as boosting the in-store customer experience.

Alan Dadswell, Managing Director of Toys ‘N’ Tuck, explained: "The additional features on offer in this latest version have enabled us to significantly improve our operations, both in-store and in the back office. Aside from the improvements in estate communications, the new solution also provides enhanced reporting, enabling the creation of business reports based on live data, which is crucial in managing a business such as this."

David Mahoney, Managing Director, Sanderson RBS, concludes: "I’m proud to report that the entire Toys ‘N’ Tuck estate was upgraded overnight - therefore providing seamless continuity to their operations. Our StoreVision specialists provide on-site training, ensuring that all staff are able to explore and utilize the additional functionality available in this new release, which will help advance the Toys ‘N’ Tuck business."

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Morse Data Preparing for PA-DSS Compliance

Morse Data Corp., Orland Park, IL, vendors of the InOrder multichannel order management system, are completing the auditor's "Discovery Phase" for PA-DSS Compliance, the first of five audit phases. They also plan to release a new, PA-DSS-compliant version of InOrder next year, well in advance of the July 1, 2010, deadline for PA-DSS compliance.

Morse Data Moves

Morse Data Corp., vendors of the InOrder multi-channel order management systems, have moved to new headquarters at 9661 W. 143rd Street, Second Floor, Orland Park, IL 60467


Monday, December 07, 2009

Web Design Must Become Web Architecture

Scratchmedia, a Web Design firm in London, suggests that "There's a sea change going on in web design, spelling the beginning of the end for the familiar web design process.

"What we know as web design is on its way out. The process of briefing the web designer, reviewing a couple of options, implementing their best guess, and hoping for the best is ineffective and it won't be around for long.

"It's time to reinvent the discipline of web design. Web designers are faced with a challenge: to be professional web site architects, or to seek work as decorators."

Click HERE to read the rest of this insightful blog that argues that Websites must be designed to produce measurable results that support well-defined goals: two fundamental principles of direct marketing.

New Version of Stone Edge Order Manager

Version 5.9 of Order Manager from Stone Edge Technologies was released in late September, with minor revisions released about once a week ever since.  Despite minor bugs and glitches, which are to be expected, the release has been very successful. Here is a condensed list of the new features and improvements:
  • New Main Menu
  • New Dashboard and Stats features
  • All-new Setup Wizard
  • Added Order States (e.g. On Hold) functionality.
  • Added support for AvaTax sales tax system.
  • Added system for taking orders and selling products at Road Trips and Trade Shows. (Enterprise    Version only)
  • Added support for Magento, Infopia, Network Solutions, StoreHost, VP-ASP carts and the SQL Server version of Blackthorne.
The full list of changes can be found here.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

iCongo Moving

iCongo, the Canadian cross-channel and eCommerce platform provider, has announced they will be moving into larger premises in an award-winning building at the heart of Montreal’s downtown core to accommodate our future growth.
      
When:   
Effective Monday December 7th 2009   
Where:   
999 boul. de Maisonneuve West, 3rd Floor
Montréal, Québec
Canada H3A 3L4
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