Retail and eCommerce highlights this week include: Research indicates two-thirds of financial services firms have suffered a cyber-attack in the last 12 months. ClearCourse acquires retail management software provider Swan. Kooomo newly designed website will streamline the user experience for customers while highlighting the benefits to global retailers. Fluent Commerce appoints Chad Hooker as VP for North America. BPA Platform enables Underwaterpistol to reduce project times, deliver a cost-effective service and enhance customers’ data management
Two-Thirds of Financial Services firms suffered a cyber-attack in the last 12 months
Sixty-five percent of large Financial Services (FS) firms have suffered a cyber-attack in the last 12 months. This is according to new research from data security provider HelpSystems.
The research with 250 CISOs and CIOs in global FS firms showed the impact Covid-19 is having on firms’ cybersecurity. Forty-five percent of respondents reporting an increase in cyber-attacks since the pandemic first emerged. Securing the remote workforce has become a key objective for 42% of FS firms. Almost half (47%) have already increased their investment in secure collaboration tools.
Ninety-two percent of FS organisations have increased their cybersecurity investment over the previous 12 months, 26% significantly so. The main investment priorities for CISOs include secure file transfer (64%), protecting the remote workforce (63%) and cloud/Office365 (56%).
The research, Cybersecurity Challenges in Financial Services, revealed the two main threats were cybersecurity weaknesses in the supply chain (46%). Increased working from home due to Covid-19 (36%) was the other major threat. The extent to which Covid-19 has impacted cybersecurity strategies in FS firms around the world was clear. Around one-third of respondents had reacted quickly to update their regulatory best practices. Forty-six percent had re-evaluated their cybersecurity training and policies to better reflect the increased home working.
Almost half of respondents felt Covid-19 has accelerated changes already in discussions, such as a move to Office 365. Such changes form part of broader digital transformation strategies, which was seen as the main challenge facing FS. Both now and in three years’ time.
ClearCourse acquires retail management software provider Swan
ClearCourse Partnership LLP has acquired The Swan Group a provider of retail management software. Swan becomes the 21st company to join ClearCourse, adding to the Group’s EPOS, CRM, and eCommerce capabilities.
Founded in 2003, the Swan Group has several brands. This includes Swan Retail, which caters to retailers such as furniture stores, garden centres, department stores and sports stadiums. The Company provides a full end-to-end digital service, from cutting-edge proprietary software to its own in-house design agency, Standout. This fully integrated approach makes Swan unique within the retail management technology industry.
The Swan Group has made several acquisitions over the past few years, adding Touchretail to the Group in 2019 and Standout in 2018. Swan also has a wide portfolio of products encompassing till systems, back-office functions and web design, which it has been expanding in tune with new technology and changing consumer behaviour. The company has achieved continued organic growth through investing in its established products SRS, FRS, Midas and TRIMS as well as its new Cygnus EPOS system.
Kooomo showcases best in eCommerce technology through website reskin
Ecommerce platform provider Kooomo has reskinned its website using its own Content Management System, to improve the User Experience (UX). The new-look platform aims to demonstrate how easy it is for retailers to update content in their own online stores. The Kooomo CMS (Content Management System) was built to operate alongside the Kooomo eCommerce Platform. It provides everything needed to operate an online store in one place. The result is a more accessible and visually pleasing site for new and existing customers, through which all content can be easily managed at the backend by content editors.
Kooomo’s strategy has always been to treat the company website as a storefront for showcasing the unique benefits of its eCommerce platform and it has continually improved the site’s ease-of-use, simplicity and clear messaging to support the expectations of visitors. The objective was to create more engaging, digestible content that gets the user to the information they need as quickly and smoothly as possible, improving the UX and winning new customers.
The company says having a CMS built-into the Kooomo platform allows a combination of commerce and content. The CMS is well-suited to modular website design. Kooomo was keen to leverage this by building a flexible site using standardised, reusable components that can be easily managed by content editors from the backend.
The design and build process began by combining components to create pages, without anyone needing to write any lines of code, and dropdown fields were used to quickly change colour schemes and layouts, giving content editors increased flexibility. Kooomo’s front end team built the site using an updated starter theme, which includes new JavaScript and SASS features.
Fluent Commerce appoints Chad Hooker as VP for North America
Fluent Commerce, a distributed order management platform has appointed Chad Hooker as VP North America. Chad will have a focus on growing the Channel & Alliances ecosystem in the region. Chad was previously Director of Alliances for the Americas at Elastic Path, a pioneer and leader in Headless Commerce.
Prior to his role at Elastic Path, Chad was the VP for Worldwide Commerce Solutions at Lightwell Inc, specialists in Order Management and Supply Chain Management where he led a global team serving B2C, B2B, and Government clients in the US and Europe.
Other roles have included Managing Principal at IBM and a Group Account Director at Accenture Interactive.
Fluent Commerce raised $33 million in August 2019 led by US growth equity firm Arrowroot Capital. The company has used the funds to grow its global footprint in the past 12 months. It has hired a number of senior roles in Europe and in the US.
Shopify Plus Partner Selects BPA Platform for eCommerce Integration and Automation Projects
Codeless Platforms announced Underwaterpistol, a full-service digital design agency and Shopify Plus Partner, have signed a partnership agreement. The company will be using BPA Platform for future eCommerce projects. The integration and automation software will enable the agency to deliver a cost-effective service, reducing time and improving flexibility. Customers will benefit from a proven business process automation solution.
Founded in 2003 by Gary Carruthers and Nicola Prior, Underwaterpistol helps organisations design, build and grow best-in-class eCommerce brands. Specialising in web design, eCommerce websites, digital assets and branding, the agency creates holistic and omnichannel strategies, powered by data, innovation and creative thinking. Underwaterpistol’s growth partner programme has been designed to help merchants build and launch a better-functioning site. It also teaches them how to grow through various channels.
